It would probably be a lot easier for me if God just sent me a note and said “Hey Todd, you need to work on this in your life”. Maybe He has and I was too busy to see it, or maybe it got lost in my other emails. Being a paramedic for 24 years has not helped me become anymore compassionate toward the homeless; in fact it has allowed me to build defense mechanisms. For many homeless, they use the emergency medical system to avoid the weather and get a shower and comfortable bed for a few days. Show any amount of compassion and they will be sitting in the Fire Station watching TV while you are out on a call, it’s happened to us! The guys at Station One had befriended a local homeless man only to come back from a call and found him sleeping in one of the chairs at the fire station.

My family and I were eating lunch at the mall when a woman approached our table with a child on her hip and another in tow. She was carrying a small sign that explained her plight and a request for money. I asked her if she had checked with the local shelter and social services, she needed to get off the streets. She shook her head and scurried away. I was irritated as I watched her move through the food court collecting money. I felt she was using her children as props to collect money.

The next day I was in the parking lot of Home Depot and another woman approached me, child on her hip, a small sign explaining her need and asking for money. I wanted information from this woman, and felt I had something that I needed to learn. “Do you have an I.D?” I asked. She replied in a heavy accented voice “No, immigration has it, no I.D.” With that reply I realized that I am not equipped to show compassion at this point. I have a lot to learn about what we can do in our community.

I was icing my shoulder, thumbing through You Tube, when I stumbled upon http://www.youtube.com/user/invisiblepeopletv . Mark Horvath makes a cross country documentary interviewing the homeless and their plight. I watched a segment of a woman with 5 children and the first thing that came to my mind was “What were you thinking when you had 5 children”? I continued to thumb through the numerous videos always looking for a “Cause” to their homelessness. Drugs, alcohol, abuse, failed marriages, unemployment all the reasons are there, so I am still questioning God “What do you want me to learn?”

Compassion not Judgment
That night I made my way to men’s group and I saw myself in the lesson.

“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:9-14.



I got it God, I am the Pharisee, and I was surprised by that revelation. For me it was that I had made the “Right Choices” in life. It’s amazing how “Right Choices” sounds like Righteousness. “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable”. I was looking at others who had made the wrong choices and judged them as less. When I look to Jesus to study compassion, He didn’t hand out $20 bills to show compassion, He sacrificed His life for mine. When the world expected riches of a worldly kingdom, He gave them a Heavenly Kingdom. He gave us Love and direction, dignity not welfare. He adopted us as children of the most High God and most of all He accepted us as we were sinners and brought us to understand His Grace. We became “Family”.

I am still on that journey to understand what it means to be compassionate, I am sure I still have a lot to learn.

The latest on the Corona Norco Rescue Mission.

Thanks for all of the response and questions concerning the progress of the Harrison Ave facility. The meetings with the city have been very productive. We are about to finalize drawings, file for permits and then we are looking at about 2 weeks to start construction. Funding is all lining up. I will keep you posted on our progress. Please continue to keep the project in prayer.