When homelessness knocks at your door

It’s been a rough three months. It’s been a rough three years.

Maximus, truly my best friend, passed away last February. It’s been hard for both me and Lady Midnight. But then, the day I knew would come is upon me.

The truth is that my life has been a roller coaster over the past few years — mentally, physically, and spiritually. Sometimes because of not-so-smart decisions — such as trading for this now dead RV (more in a bit) and sometimes not. But, it has been a learning experience for both me and others.

I’ve learned who my friends and family are and who they are not.

I’ve seen people where they’re at and in places most of you will never see and understand.

I’ve seen rough and brusque elderly men cry simply because I remembered them and saw them when no one else did.

I’ve felt that myself.

Firstly, I’m not asking anything of anyone. Not even prayers.

Secondly, you never know what someone is going through — even if you’re the one seemingly going through it all.

Lastly and most importantly, “the church” needs Jesus. People within the church aren’t the Church. We’ve (that includes me) been taught and made such horrible decisions as a body that represents Christ. Historically, we can see it in the Bible, through the Catholic church, in the Protestant reformation, and now. The church building is not the Church. People in a church building or outside of it don’t make the church. The Church is God’s chosen people who live holy and consecrated lives. However, that’s not to mean that we don’t fall because everyone falls daily and is in need of a savior. There is only One who is truly Holy, and that is Jesus Christ. Not a pope, not a pastor, not your grandmother, and definitely not me or you. To claim otherwise would be to claim equality with Jesus, and good luck with that on judgment day.

Carrying on…

The RV has basically died on me. It will not make it to my destination, and eventually (very soon) I will have to contact a recovery company to take it away as its last breath is near. It has no breath left for the mountains for which I am surrounded. The costs involved, even if I could afford it, would be just like throwing money down a river.

I knew the risks. I feared the risks. The risks became very real. The risks were postponed for so long.

I thought things would be ok as The Beast, as I call it, did so well and then this mountain came. It gave up its life. The irony of me calling this big, old RV a beast is that it was an eyesore that represented so much negative in so many eyes. But it was home. It helped protect me from the elements — sun, wind, rain, snow, and sleet.

However, any continued travel risk through the mountains is not worth it. This vehicle is over 15,000 GWWR. It could kill me or any number of people.

The continued risk is not worth anyone’s life.

What happens next? No one knows. Is there more to the story? Yes. But that’s for the books and those details don’t honestly matter.

All I can say is be compassionate to the people you see.

Never think it couldn’t happen to you.

The only reason I’ve made it this far is because of how people turned their heads in a gracious manner to allow me to survive. While that is a story all and in of itself, the details I cannot divulge at this time to protect the people who protected me — the people who compassionately allowed me to survive.

I’ve been hot. I have been cold. I’ve been broken.

I’ve smiled. I have cried. I’ve laughed.

But, I am forever thankful for the people who helped me — especially the people unaware.

Love people — whether stranger or foe. In the end, we have but each other. In this polarized US of A (and around the world), we don’t have left or right. We don’t have one color or the next. We don’t have male or female. We have but each other.

We are humans. We live. We breathe. We bleed. We do it all the same.

Don’t let the things of this world — its institutions and kingdoms — continue saw us in half.

Grace and peace to you.

— NatureCrank