This morning I was on my way to the gym and started thinking to myself how funny it was - and predictable - that the heater in my Jeep would get nice & warm right about the time I pulled into a parking place. Doesn't that kind of thing always seem to happen? And so of course I began crafting in my mind how this would best be expressed in a tweet. How could I convey this nagging annoyance with all my friends, who would most certainly resonate with my frustration. It would probably sound something like this:
On the way to gym at 6AM. Freezing my butt off! Heater in the Jeep finally got nice & toasty....when I pulled into a parking space. #annoying
And then I remembered something else.
The night before (when the Arctic front moved into our area) there was a segment on the news about how a few area churches and missions were opening their doors to the homeless for the next few nights, providing a place to come in out of the frigid cold. I remember praying, "Lord, bless and use these churches and people! Please keep those people without shelter safe tonight." Suddenly I was struck with the thought: I wonder what a homeless person would think about my tweet? I wonder what someone fighting for their life to get out of the cold would think about my horrific dilemma with waiting on the car to heat up? It got me thinking: I wonder what a homeless person would think about half of the things we tweet or post on Facebook? And for that matter, what would it sound or look like if a homeless person started tweeting? Let's compare one of their potential tweets with mine from above:
Got to shelter. Stood in line outside 2 hours. Plate in my hand, they ran out of food. GONE! Feels like my stomach is eating itself. #annoying
I wonder if we ran our thoughts, complaints, grievances, and annoyances through the filter of WHAT WOULD A HOMELESS PERSON THINK ABOUT THIS? if they might not sound a bit different.
Would we complain a little less?
Would we hold a few less things over other people's heads?
Would we be a little - or maybe a LOT - less annoyed with our petty, materialistic list of wants?
I wonder if we actually spent more time with our brothers and sisters who are homeless and hungry - meeting their needs, hearing their stories, loving them with our actions - if some of our petty thoughts, complaints, grievances, and annoyances would not only sound different, but would completely disappear.
What do you think?
What would a homeless person tweet?
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