Do you know these zip codes? (answers at end of post.)
We all know the three most important elements of real estate- location, location, location. Where you live matters much in our culture, not just how or that you live. I get that. But it's made me think again about those who don't quite measure up in the "where you live" department.Like a homeless man at a church in Long Beach where I used to serve. One Sunday he filled out a visitor card, and in response to our request for his zip, he simply wrote, "none." None? Everyone has a zip code, don't they? No zip code means you live nowhere, you have no permanence, with little or no meaningful connection to society (at least in our eyes).
Like Mike and Ginger, a homeless couple who invited me to their home just off the freeway. And as we walked together under an overpass, past a pumping station, and a
long a trail of trees lining that freeway, I found their camp. There along the frantic passing of society was their home- a simple shelter for sleeping (complete with double bed), a privy that served as a toilet, an ice chest (fridge), and couch and chairs sitting out front. As we sat an drank a six-pack of cola they had saved for the occasion, they told me that although the world called them homeless, they knew better. They admitted to being houseless, but they had a home, and a community, even if it was virtually invisible (and undesirable) to the humanity speeding past them.
long a trail of trees lining that freeway, I found their camp. There along the frantic passing of society was their home- a simple shelter for sleeping (complete with double bed), a privy that served as a toilet, an ice chest (fridge), and couch and chairs sitting out front. As we sat an drank a six-pack of cola they had saved for the occasion, they told me that although the world called them homeless, they knew better. They admitted to being houseless, but they had a home, and a community, even if it was virtually invisible (and undesirable) to the humanity speeding past them.We look at the Mikes and Gingers of our world and see that they have problems. And we're right. They do. But maybe, just maybe, we need to look carefully at our problems as well. We strive for the "best" places, the "best" stuff, the "best" lifestyles. And we run after the status, possessions and comfort the world says matter most. But if they matter so darned much, tell me why so many who have so much end up so unsatisfied. Maybe, just maybe, we've been chasing the wrong stuff, and we've ended up in the wrong place.
After all, it's all about location.
(answers: Beverly Hills [of course], Newport Beach, West Long Beach)
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