The Ketchup Stain on the Wall

Have you ever heard the phrase, “The ketchup stain on the wall?” If not, it points to the idea that if you were to get ketchup on your wall but not clean it up right away, every time you walked into the room, you would notice it.

However, slowly over time something happens. The ketchup stain is still there, but because it’s been there for so long you hardly notice it anymore.

And so it is with the homeless. They are sprinkled throughout our community. They can be found in the usual places; freeway exits, downtown, grocery stores, etc.

For the most part they have become, “The ketchup stain on the wall.”

We see them, but we don’t see them. Or, we choose not to see them.

As I drove around town the other day, running errands, I came across a sight that gave me pause. A homeless man was taking a moment to fill his cup with water. His source for water that day was sprinklers that were watering the grass of a local business.

Other than when I was a child and it was fun, have I ever had to drink from a hose or a sprinkler because that was my only option? Never. I’m even a little embarrassed to admit that I won’t even drink from the tap in my own home.

I don’t believe I need to go off now on how easy we really do have it compared to others. I think we already know that. I guess the question we need to ask ourselves is, do we care?

I hope the image of that homeless man stays with me. And I hope that the next time you or I see a homeless person, we really see them.

And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25:40

Dina Pugh