A Sign Has Been Given; God Is With Us : Homelessness: Recall the words of Micah about the outdoor people of Bethlehem.

It has turned cold again. Cardboard boxes, abandoned by importers of toys from mainland China and Taiwan, provide makeshift shelter for hundreds of homeless. Foreign aid of an odd but crucial sort. Hunched backs lean in toward late night fires and hands shove deep into empty pockets. December on Skid Row.

In “The Bluest Eye,� Toni Morrison wrote that, in Lorain, Ohio, in the early 1940s, outdoors was the real terror of life. “Outdoors was the end of something, an irrevocable, physical fact, defining and complementing our metaphysical condition.� Outdoors was concrete, like being dead. “Dead doesn’t change and outdoors is here to stay.�

These days, the people who live outdoors are considered dangerous, not unfortunate. They seem never to work, preferring instead to panhandle our hard-earned and closely guarded paychecks. We distance our hearts by describing them as mentally ill, drug- or alcohol-addicted, service resistant or criminal. They threaten the very order of our city.

It was the prophet Micah, contemporary of Isaiah, who announced that Immanuel (“God with us�) would be born, not in the royal courts of Jerusalem as Isaiah believed, but in Bethlehem among the poor--outdoors. This sign was not given to comfort the poor, but to appeal to the king of Judah to remain faithful in a tough political situation. With armies advancing on all sides, the king went for the politically expedient choice. He threw in his lot with the rich and powerful Assyrians rather than relying upon Yahweh, who called for “justice, loving kindness and a humble walk with your God.� (Micah 6:8)

Over on Fifth Street, Lucy sleeps in a cardboard box. Up at City Hall, plans are proceeding to expeditiously rid city sidewalks of the homeless. Yet a sign has been given even to this distant generation. Sit tight. Cast your lot with those outdoors who are of special concern to Yahweh. A sign has been given. God is with us. Merry Christmas.