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Wednesday, November 11, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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The homeless:
call them by name
Jeannette J. Harding
Guest Columnist
Letters to the Editor…
The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address
and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited
opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond
or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words.
Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is 10 a.m. Monday.
To the Editor:
Recently read an article on the divide
between those involved politically and those
watching from the sidelines, which assumed
those not involved politically must not care
and will not vote.
Quite the contrary.
Minor example can be seen in a Home
Owners Association of over 100 owners
one finds there are usually around six who
will get involved or run to be on a board and
another five will help out in various ways.
But if asked, everyone has opinions because
they care. Think about how hard it is to get
folks to run for office in any town, includ-
ing Sisters. Are you volunteering to join the
various boards and committees? Does that
mean you do not care? And is there any
doubt, after reading The Nugget once a
week, that people truly care politically?
The vast majority of U.S. citizens of any
party are referred to as the Silent Majority
(SM). For decades the SM was and remains
the centrist voters. Only since the 1980s
have the silent ones gotten so sick of politics
that apathy started setting in and they voted
less and less and less. Then it all came to a
head in the 2016 general election, showing
how very bad it can get if we the public do
not take our voting rights seriously. Much
was wrong with that election but for this let-
ter, note that over 10 million regularly vot-
ing voters, did not vote.
For this election, the Silent Majority
have been in shock for the treatment of
immigrants from around the world, children
pulled from families at our borders and have
watched the escalating suppressive treat-
ment of BIPOC. Across the nation, the SM
(polled over decades) think that there should
be single-payer health care, that we should
address the climate crises, that marijuana is
not a narcotic, that women have the right
of choice and equal pay for equal work,
that LGBTQ should have rights to marry
and also be treated equally, that education
should not put a person in debt for life, that
prisons and public schools should not be
privatized and that separation of church and
state is fundamental to any democracy.
The centrists are paying attention. Today,
the Silent Majority is revived and they suc-
ceeded in quietly breaking voting records in
every state.
Susan Cobb
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To the Editor:
I get so frustrated when Trump support-
ers say that Democrats want Communism in
America. Not since the hysteria of the 1950s
Red Scare has there been so much misunder-
standing about the difference between com-
munism and socialism. Communism is basi-
cally anti-capitalism wherein everyone sup-
posedly shares equally in wealth and work,
but is usually corrupted by vicious dictators
kept in power by violence and favoritism.
Under communism the common person is
usually poor and deprived of personal self-
determination and opportunity.
Under democratic socialism, capitalism
flourishes but the needs of the common
people are supported by society, to assure
quality education, housing, food and health-
care are available to all. Individual choice,
opportunity, and hard work are prized and
equality is one of the highest priorities.
Are there challenges to making all gov-
ernment systems work? Yes, of course,
none is perfect, but much of the mod-
ern free countries of Europe are socialist
democracies. So, get out your high school
government texts and re-read the chapter
on different models of modern systems of
government.
Sharon Booth
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To the Editor:
Veteran9s Day originated at the end of
hostilities between the Allied nations and
Germany that went into effect on the 11th
hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in
1918; <the war to end all wars.=
The percent of Americans serving on
active duty is usually about 1 percent of the
See LETTERS on page 10
This was their day.
Christmas Eve. A day to put
the homeless in a spot of light,
in their darkened world. All
hopes are dashed by their bro-
ken lives, cars, and dreams.
The hustle and bustle of
the congregation had sepa-
rated themselves. Some were
cooking potatoes, stuffing,
and veggies in the kitchen.
The smell of turkeys cook-
ing in crock pots all over the
church created an tantalizing
aroma of foods, just waiting
to be devoured. In another
room were potato mashers,
turkey carvers, and pie cut-
ters. Yet even in another room
the decorations were being set
up. The vans had been sent out
to pick them up. The greeters
awaited their arrival.
The people came one by
one. Some came in groups.
<They are homeless,= cried
society.
Today, these <people=
have become individuals.
They have names. We can
touch them and their lives,
feed them, warm their frozen
bones, and give them a few
monetary items to give them
a little more comfort. But this
doesn9t make any difference if
we don9t engage in listening
to their stories. More impor-
tantly, giving them love, pray-
ing with and for them. Yes,
they have many addictions,
but we are just like them. We
just hide them better. But their
lives won9t change unless we
give them love.
Desperate items are sought
after. Not looking for elec-
tronics, or the newest and the
greatest. They are in survival
mode! Looking for, and some-
times fighting over: tarps,
tents, sleeping bags, blankets,
hand warmers, warm sweat-
shirts, hats, gloves, coats,
warm socks, shoes, and bat-
teries. Their toes are red and
sore without socks. Perhaps
they haven9t had a change of
clothes for a month. The car
has run out of gas, or broken
down, and so they can9t get
the warmth. These are basic
human needs that we perhaps
take for granted.
Seeing first-hand the dire
poverty and desperate needs
of these precious souls who
have fallen through the cracks,
compassion gripped my heart
and my soul. I wanted to give
them more, even a warm
home, filled with hot water,
clean clothes, a clean place to
sit, and enjoy a home cooked
meal.
There were so many. Some
wanted to take more. Others
took graciously only their
immediate needs. Still others
would not take a thing, saying,
<Give to them whose needs
are more than mine.=
We ran out of hand warm-
ers, gloves, tents, sleeping
bags, blankets, shoes, and still
had two more hours to go.
This prompted a rush to the
local stores to empty Walmart,
Bi-Mart and Fred Meyer of
those supplies.
A gentleman brought an
accordion.
<Why don9t you play some
Christmas songs for us!=
someone said. <My hands are
so cold; they need to warm up
first.=
Another gentleman had no
teeth. <I can eat pumpkin pie,=
he laughed with a smile.
There was a lady who only
wanted an outfit, to go to an
interview.
Just then, Christmas carols
flowed through the cafeteria.
So, they were fed a warm
turkey/ham dinner, and we
sent them back out into the
freezing cold world, as dark-
ness came upon them. We
returned home to our visions
of sugar plums dancing in our
heads snuggled in our warm
house, warm beds, awaiting
the tree filled with Christmas
presents.
Christmas Day. Their pres-
ents in the morning were: new
tarps, blankets, sleeping bags,
tents, and warm clothes; with-
out the shoes that didn9t fit
or we didn9t have their size,
without the warm leggings we
hadn9t supplied, and without
the backpacks that we hadn9t
thought of.
It took a congregation to
help these souls in need. So
many people running to get
the help they needed, filling
their tanks with gas, hope-
fully giving the right infor-
mation for them to get a bed
for the night. Everyone, I
mean everyone, was vitally
important in this occasion.
Even down to some who took
phone calls for those in need
of transportation, or made
copies, or gave out our much-
needed supplies.
Later, I connected with an
elder in charge of the home-
less. We went out in low-
income housing door to door,
leaving notes, inviting them
to come out and have a barbe-
cue dinner in the nearby park.
Then another time, we were
in the cafeteria, putting boxes
together for them. It was pow-
erful! Yes, we were changed.
We would never be the same.
The people in this congre-
gation really backed up their
pastor.
We truly had the ears to
hear their cries, the hands to
touch their lives, and feet to
fill their needs, with many
hearts going out to them. They
have names. We call them by
their names.