CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – There are lots of open jobs around town.
And there are lots of people who aren’t working. The homeless. The addicted. Those who are just out of jail.
You’re tempted to yell at them, “Stop being lazy! Get a job!” I understand. Sometimes I feel that way too.
But we should all remember this: There are some people who are pushed down so low, that they are unemployable. Someone who hasn’t taken a shower in days, and hasn’t shaved, and is wearing filthy clothes, and slept outside last night can’t get hired anywhere. These people need to be put back together first. The laid-low need a champion – someone who gives them a hand up.
The person in our area who’s doing a lot of the ‘hand up’ work in Wausau is Reverend Yauo Yang. His church, The Cross, is a congregation of those who have struggled. Pastor Yang announced last month that a building has been purchased, and it will provide transitional housing for 16 people. They’re working to set it up and furnish it now.
Will 16 addicts, or past criminals, or homeless suddenly become productive members of society? No, of course not. But what if two or three or four DO? Over the course of a year, a dozen people… maybe more… will stand on their own. Their lives will be transformed. And society as a whole, you and me, benefit too.
This reminds me of the parable Jesus told about the lost sheep. A shepherd leaves his flock to look for a lost sheep, and rejoices when it is found. Jesus didn’t say if all the lost sheep are recovered. They probably aren’t. But we are told that heaven rejoices when just one person is saved.
Wausau’s new transitional living center will be like that. Some will turn their lives around. And some will turn their lives towards Christ.
Please, pray that this new program bears fruit. And please do what you can to help.
I’m Chris Conley.
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