Personal Flashback

On the front page above the fold of the Decatur Herald-Review newspaper the photo was eye-popping. Hundreds of people were gathered around the Northeast Community food pantry truck, which was positioned to dispense fresh food items to needy families. Before one conjures up an erroneous vision of some racial divide they can dismiss the notion because the picture presented 'equal-opportunity hunger.'

As I read more deeply into the article, I was a bit taken back. The blue-collar Decatur city of 76,000 folks located in Macon County's combined population of 107 thousand residents has significant poverty issues. Consider these facts: 1) Macon County has better than 25% of children living below the poverty level and 70% of Decatur's public school students qualify for 'free lunches.' On this latter topic, I find it disgusting to hear anyone wishing to reduce the school lunch program suggesting statistics fail to substantiate that a filled belly relates to improved academics. Give me a break! A hungry growling-empty American stomach is absolutely unacceptable!

As I repeatedly scanned the faces of these Decatur neighbors, fellow Americans, Christian brothers and sisters reaching out to accept these food products, I could not help but study faces and wonder, 'What's your story?' Everybody has that story. That story, which lead to the 'good life' or the 'life in poverty.' I recalled the years I taught in the Jacksonville 'Alternative Education Program.' This was a program that attempted to identify high probability high school drop outs and start their day out on a positive note with classes offering life skills and interpersonal communication techniques. These were students who were personally angry about hidden unspoken daemons plaguing their young lives. These issues created negative behavior attitudes. I remember asking those students at the beginning of each school year: "I want you to write a paragraph telling me what ONE thing you would change in your young life if you could." Oh my, what heartbreaking stories. One female student: "I wished my mom would have believed me when I told her my step dad was sexually abusing me." A male student: "Still today, I have to be home with my mom when dad comes home drunk because he beats on her if I'm not there." Another student: "Every night my parents gets drunk and fight." And yet this: "Ever since my dad left, my mom has one guy after another at our house and they are bums."

Before we judge, before we criticize and before we make generalizations, we should consider 'The Story.'

       (Touch)
He Ain't Heavy...He's My Brother