See the Carpet of the Sun

THIS BLOG IS ABOUT ONE OF MANY FIGHTS BEING WAGED AGAINST HUNGER AND POVERTY.
THE LAST POST IS THE FIRST. WE PUSHED AN EMPTY CART TO MAKE A STATEMENT ABOUT HUNGER AND POVERTY, AND TO JUST BRING ATTENTION TO THE PROBLEM.
PLEASE CHECK OUT THE LINKS AND DO SOMETHING, AND AS I SAID, THE POST AT THE BOTTOM IS THE FIRST AND MAYBE WHERE TO START;

Carpet of the Sun....If you know Renaissance, you get the reference.....
It's 5:15 am Sunday, and 12 hours ago I was steady pushing banging out the last of the marathon. I wiped out my back, S1, S3, & L4 &5, in 2001. broken wrist in 91, and last year was in a bus accident and it messed up my shoulder and elbow, and took a fall and tore my acl... not as able as I was at 30, and it is humbling to say the least. That's why I'm back in college. I give out, my knee gives out when overused, and I drop things when I try to lift using my left arm. From the broken right wrist my hand sometime seizes, carpal tunnel and in pain right now... but I don't want disability. My father was a union man, he went to work every day, and worked hard. It took me longer to accept any help because it was a matter of pride for me, but maybe that was foolish. So I make adjustments and to try to survive, make a good life for myself and my family, and earn a decent living and quality of life, which is why I'm back in college...
....there are many stories like mine, and you and I will never hear them..... but should we let those stories be ones of sorrow or joy? Anyone can deal with suffering and hardship, but they shouldn't have to be treated like dirt or made to feel invisible.
Yesterday, as I was coming from The Stadium, WJCT, WTLV-12, and The Coliseum, I passed behind Maxwell House and then Sulzbacher. At Sulzbacher two residents stopped me ask asked who (what) organization I was with (?) I answered "none". Then they asked who was paying me to do this, I answered "no one", and it hit them, I think, what it was about; I told them a little bit about the push, and that they weren't invisible, at least not to me. That the city may try to hide the problems of poverty but that I still see them, and they are thought about, even if they never know it, by many people. The woman started to cry a little, so I hugged her, and went on and finished the 26.2 miles. (best guess closer to 27 miles)
The solitary walk back to Chamblin's where the car was, in pain, on a mission to complete just an idyllic gesture, is a great time to think.
The cart started where food was sold in bounty and abundance, Past pawn shops and banks, past the poor places and through affluent areas, past churches and other missions, past libraries and schools and colleges, past hospitals, past memorials and fountains and hospitals and museums, past city agencies and a jail and courthouses and city hall and parks, and all the places where people conduct their lives in our culture.
America was once great, but are we still? We CAN be, but would a great nation or people allow it's members to suffer, society to fall in decay, and have the most affluent sell our manufacturing to China for a quick profit, and sell us out? Free trade must be fair trade, and I can point to loads of reasons for how things are, but there is one underlying reason at the end of the day.... greed.
We once understood we are only as strong as a nation as our weakest links, so we kept each other strong. This dawned on us after the great wars (WW1 & WW2), but we grow complacent, and will suffer for it-unless we do something, and remember what is important and what made us great to begin with.
It isn't a hand out that people want, it is a hand up, and we share in that responsibility.
You can't ignore what Christ said about it in Matthew 25th Chapter:

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

"Do unto others" does not mean to plan to divest them from their wealth in any means possible, and "Love Thy Neighbor" isn't a command, it is a challenge. Can you do good things for those you disagree with and do not like? That is the lesson Christ taught, but I seldom see carried out. I hate the bad acts I see but always try to love the person, which is why I count liberals and conservatives as friends when I am staunchly in the rational middle. Every world religion commands us to be as good as we can be, and there is no excuse for anything less. Some people still remember this idea which makes us good people, some of them are listed here:

Loads of thanks to the wonderful people that supported and especially to those who walked....
Mike (IGA), Shawn, Shelby, Trish (The Troopers), Roger and Susan (of FSCJ Kent Campus student government), Dave and Robert (residents of Trinity Rescue Mission), Julie and Betty (Baptist Hospital Cardiac), my son, Alex.... these people pushed the cart, and made a statement... special thanks to Melissa Ross, The Folio (better late than never), and WTLV 12 & 25..... you all made this idea a reality-and Monte Belmont from WRSI (check out wrsi.com) who did Monte's March all by himself and raised $15K for foodbanks in Western Mass....
This may have raised a nominal amount of money directly, but I hope this inception marathon grows and has reminded others of our shared responsibility to care for each other.