Under the Overpass

I was prompted today to share this book with you all after an experience I had this morning. Pretty much every day I pass a homeless camp on my way to work. This morning there were paramedics taking someone in a blue bag to the vehicle. I was awestruck as I saw many of the people staying at this camp looking on as they put this stranger (to me) away never to be seen again.

I thought to myself, who was this person, what was thier name, where are they from, do they have family that will miss them, who were they?

I then remembered this book I read several years ago, "Under The Overpass."

I was searching for a book that would inspire me, something where I could read about people living out thier faith in the rawest and truest ways. I grabbed "Under the Overpass" off the shelf and began to read the back cover. Hmmm...a story of two Christian upper class guys who decide to live on the streets, homeless, penniless for 6 months to truely see what it meant to lose everything.

This was what I was looking for. When I got home I could not put it down. They shared many stories of thier time in the cities in the US with the higher homeless populations: Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, Denver, and DC. They shared thier spiritual experiences, thier struggles, the discrimination, the hardships, the suffering, and the joy they encountered on thier 6 month journey. One might find it interesting how they were treated by many Christians along the way.

Now several years later I am still being impacted by this books message. It has helped shape how I look at society, the marginalized, and the homeless. I see things a lot differently now. I act differently now. I myself have contemplated many times if I would have had the courage to do what they accomplished. Could I even spend a weekend on the streets living homeless?

Those who live on the streets have names, lives, histories, stories, family, and friends just like the person I saw this morning. They, like us, love, struggle, have faith in God, and encounter the same experiences others do it is just in different ways. It is so easy to forget those lost to society. They are adults, children, and teenagers. All of which are in need of care, love, attention, and to know that they are of worth. If you can, read the book, step out, listen to the stories of the homeless, spend time with them, learn thier names, and share with them when they are in need.

You can buy "Under the Overpass" it at amazon.com used (buying used saves on waste) and the 30 Day Devotional, "My 30 Days Under the Overpass".

Rachel