On a cold November evening...
Illustration
On a cold November evening, a young Pennsylvania newscaster was given an assignment to cruise the city streets with a mobile unit, searching out the homeless to speak with them about their ability to cope with the harsh weather. The resulting program was most revealing and moving, because of the candid interviews with the unfortunate homeless and of the effect those confrontations had on the news reporter.
As one watched the news special, it was very obvious to the viewer that the plight of those interviewed was affecting the young reporter in an unusual and emotional manner. The newscaster later admitted that his contact with homeless people had been negligible until he took to the streets with his camera and microphone, and he said their tragic circumstances moved him to react not just emotionally, but also with assertive and specific actions to help alleviate the conditions of those whom he had interviewed.
Most of us, whether minister or lay person, have very little contact with those whose only shelter consists of a cardboard box, an open doorway, or a cot in a downtown mission, yet our own comfortable circumstances do not excuse us from our responsibilities to others. "You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor."
-- Byrd
As one watched the news special, it was very obvious to the viewer that the plight of those interviewed was affecting the young reporter in an unusual and emotional manner. The newscaster later admitted that his contact with homeless people had been negligible until he took to the streets with his camera and microphone, and he said their tragic circumstances moved him to react not just emotionally, but also with assertive and specific actions to help alleviate the conditions of those whom he had interviewed.
Most of us, whether minister or lay person, have very little contact with those whose only shelter consists of a cardboard box, an open doorway, or a cot in a downtown mission, yet our own comfortable circumstances do not excuse us from our responsibilities to others. "You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor."
-- Byrd
