You oughta be thankful, a whole heaping lot, for the places and people you’re lucky you’re not.”
—Dr. Seuss
Cute. It rhymes. But the truth is—it’s the truth.
Most of us are the lucky products of the grace and blessings we were handed in this world. We are the “lucky ones.” For the most part, lucky ones had a loving mom and dad who raised their children in a safe home, with enough food, an emphasis on education, and an understanding of their Maker. Look around…the lucky ones are tremendously blessed.
But there are those who have experienced few of those things. They have had to figure out almost every step of life by themselves as they search for meaningful relationships that often fail them, for meaningful work that they have never seen demonstrated, and for fulfillment of their God-given talents that they may never have the opportunity to express. Trouble is everywhere in certain neighborhoods, and it has a way of finding its way into the lives of the people who live there, sending many to long term jail and prison sentences.
What we do at UNITE INDY, by training and helping people get jobs and supplying daily transportation to the work places after incarceration, provides a way forward. It doesn’t make up for what they never received in their young lives, but it’s a start. Our God is a God of second chances, and third, and fourth chances. And what is lucky for these folks, is that ours is a community full of people, who like UNITE INDY, are working in Central Indiana to remove many of the barriers that keep our brothers and sisters in poverty, without good jobs, controlled by the past and situations beyond their control.
If on this Thanksgiving, you counted the great blessings we all have, I hope you counted among them the many dedicated people of our city who show their love for Christ through their efforts to help ‘the least of these’ the whole year through.
Grateful,
Jim
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