Silly penances.
Husbands in trouble used to do them…
Kind of. Remember when married men used to get kicked out of bed by their wives when the Mrs. was mad at them? Maybe it was just a sitcom thing - but if real - it could have been a good penance.
No one kicked me out of bed.
I sometimes do silly penances. Last night I decided to sit outside in the rain storm, without protection, to see what it would be like if I were homeless and had no shelter. I realized only a fool would sit out in the rain without protection, and recalled how more fortunate homeless people sometimes sleep in their cars - while they still have them. So I locked up the house and took the car out and found a nice place to sleep.
I know!
The nearby street lamp shone in my face, so I moved the car to a darker street. I folded back the passenger’s seat as far as it would go, and made a pillow out of a winter hat and scarf. After praying for awhile, I tried to go to sleep - I have a Honda Civic and I’m a big guy - so it was not very comfortable. The rain intensified accompanied by fabulous lightning all around, but I just couldn’t get comfortable. Around midnight I went back home and slept in my bed. I’ll never be a good homeless person.
Summer camp.
I know it is a weird thing to do, but on occasion I’ll deliberately inconvenience myself in order to understand what it feels like to have nothing left, not even your dignity. So I did an “urban camp-out” last night, despite the fact the experience was not authentic - because I really do have a place to live - and I also had my identification in my pocket if the police stopped by.
“Oh yes - we love living in our car - it is so convenient.” - Imaginative response from a potential game show contestant.
Although I never persevere through a night - winter nights are the worst - I always understand that homeless people do not choose to be homeless and enjoy sleeping in a cardboard box or their car - or the gutter. Some crazy ones say they ‘like the independence’, and many of us only remember those who make such hollow claims and repeat with conviction: “They say they want to live on the street - they would prefer that over a shelter.” Or, ”Many homeless choose to live on the street - they like it.” (Poor people, even those with mental disorders, often say such things in order to salvage their dignity.)
“It’s the economy stupid!” - Tagline from an election several terms back.
So what is more strange? Sleeping in one’s car for a penance in a lame attempt to understand - perhaps even share a little experience with the homeless, or claiming the homeless like their homeless poverty - and “especially in summer - it isn’t bad at all when it is nice out.”?
Coming to a neighborhood near you.
Please don’t forget the poor and the homeless and the shelters and charities who care for them just because it is nice out… Especially since many more people are losing their homes now days in this harsh economy.
St. Joseph, who always found lodging for Mary and Jesus, help the poor and the homeless, and those of us who have nowhere to lay our head, and who are alone and afflicted.
The title of the post is a line spoken by Maggie Smith’s character in the movie “Tea With Mussolini.” She had been dissapointed in Mussolini’s broken promises and treatment of herself and her companions in the war. I found myself repeating the same line after I read how John Klein, the Chancellor of NYC Public Schools (pictured) is planning on opening an all-Muslim public school. The school is due to open Sptember 4 of this year. The plans are being challenged, but what is he thinking?
