Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Steps to Nowhere?

Uptown there are “left behind” step that used to herald the entrance of a long-gone business.  The overgrown lot has been vacant for years, except for the eight broken concrete steps.

A few months ago, I started noticing homeless men sitting on the steps.  The shade trees on either side of the steps provided a respite from the summer sun and made a neat spot for the men to congregate and talk.

Lately, I began to think of those steps in a different way --- they are the steps to nowhere.  These men must feel their lives are going nowhere too with life tossing them out on the streets.  The steps might be comfortable for now, but maybe they should find another perch or a more helpful sanctuary.  There are places within a few blocks that offer ways of providing what they might need instead of resting at this weigh station on the road of life.

How many of us have missed opportunities by sitting on steps to nowhere?

5 comments:

  1. Rita B:

    Those men, instead of sitting on the steps to nowhere, should be seeking a stairway to the stars.

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  2. I liked that last sentence. Lot of truth in that.

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  3. We know it's true, Whit, but sometimes when people are at the bottom it's hard to see a way up! ~~ Hugs, Rita B

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  4. Skinny, I do too... maybe it's because so many of us can relate to it. My situation is nothing close to being homeless, but we have been trying to move for three years and have found ourselves stuck in a limbo. As depressing as it is, being homeless must be a thousand times worse! ~~ Hugs, Rita B

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  5. Just recently I found out there used to be a church at the top of those steps. Somehow I find it interesting that a long gone sanctuary still offers comfort to the lost.

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