The challenge of offering a listening ear

I took this picture when I was out walking along the thames (well not on the thames but beside it, jesus walked on water not me!). Having worked with the Salvation Army in Perth i'm aware of some of the challenges facing homeless people. However, it seems to me that homeless people in London are much lonelier, in fact i think becuase of London's size it is very easy for anyone to feel lonely . Many of the homeless people I have come across so far are really keen to tell they’re story or to have somone to talk to. One example is when I was leaving the centre on Sunday night I was approached by this bearded fellow. He asked if I knew where he could find a hostel for the night. I replied that I was new to the area and wasn’t quite sure. He picked up on my accent very quickly and explained that he was born on Skye. From there he went on to chat about his life and how he ended up in London. Then Dan, one of my colleagues came out of the building and he told the man where the local hostel was (the original thing he wanted to know) but he explained that it was fine and he would leave it for another day. Then there’s this other guy goes by the name of ‘the penniless poet’ and all he does all day is go around reciting his poetry to people. On hot day’s he sits outside the centre and speaks to the people coming in and out. On wet day’s he comes into the café and goes round the customers telling his work. He’s tremendous entertainment and it’s funny because you’d think customers would consider him a pest but everyone responds well to him. On some occasions he comes into the café drunk and he has to be asked to leave. But he’s always welcome, that’s the key theme of Church.co.uk that everyone is welcome and should be made to feel welcome.

Anyway, I started out this blog entry with a picture I took. It shows a homeless person at the end of a tunnel sitting with his dog. I want you to look at where the wet footprints are. You’ll notice that around the man there is a huge dry patch where hundreds upon hundred’s of London’s people have walked past him. It clarifies for me how unwelcome homeless people are within society (therefore also clarifying the need for a place where these people are welcome not just to mix with each other but with “normal” people). What the picture also shows is how impacting it would be for just one person to approach that man and take some time out to listen. I’ve heard it a lot recently that sometimes the best service we can offer people is a listening ear but often it’s the last thing we think of…