Why Eminem is Wrong.

I miss mix tapes. When I was a kid there was nothing more laborious, yet fulfilling, than loading a blank cassette tape into Deck A of my boom box while Deck B became host to The Cure, U2, Public Enemy, and The Pixies. Times have evolved and mix tapes have given way to iTunes playlists. The concept is the same...multiple songs by varied artists, but I guess I just miss the mechanics and the sound of actual fast-forwarding. Anyway, I was driving to work this morning and an Eminem song I've heard a thousand times came on and some of the lyrics seeped in and I found myself reexamining them. I apologize if you don't know who this artist is, or if you do not care for his music.My point is not to endorse him, but rather to provide some context for this blog.

You better lose yourself in the music
The moment, you own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime

This is a common theme in literature, art, entertainment, and life, really. Make the best of what comes our way because we only get one chance in life to capitalize on the moment. If we somehow screw things up, we are doomed to a life of deserved misery. This seems inspirational and it has allowed Hallmark Television to exist by pumping out thousands of made-for-TV movies with Alyssa Milano and any combination of the surviving Golden Girls. But is this idea right? Should we only get one chance to succeed...one defining moment that either ensnares or catapults us to greater things? I think we have all had moments where we wonder if life can get any better. But we also have times of catastrophic failure that we do not want to be defined by.

Most of our residents are at the lowest (or one of the lowest) points in their lives. For whatever reason, they find themselves at Samaritan House and in some stage of trying to piece their lives back together. They are often broken and despondent and most definitely feel that their 'opportunity' has passed them by. If we truly only have one chance in life to accomplish greatness, then perhaps they are correct. But I can't subscribe to this.

As we were working on our State of Homelessness in Kalispell report, I kept thinking that there had to be some type of redemptive process for the homeless. This attitude of 'one shot is all you get' prevails in too many sectors of society. There is a tendency to think the homeless deserve their circumstances because they failed at life. We lose patience with people we think have squandered opportunities that others have succeeded in. I see this attitude as detrimental to addressing the issue of homelessness in the Valley. We need to be a community that offers the services mentioned in previous blogs, but these services must be offered out of a restorative anticipation that people can turn their lives around and not viewed as a handout or platform for judgement.

We all have had help in some form or another. How quickly we can forget that. Life is not baseball and we should get more than 3 strikes till we're out.