You can tell a whole lot about a person by the way they walk.  You can generally tell how confident they are in themselves.  You can even tell, a lot of times, how they view the people in the world around them. 

Our walk can be indicative of our personalities and even our priorities.  How urgent is our walk, and for what reason are we walking?  Herein lies the answers to many things about us. 

Some folks walk for hours simply because they like to walk.  I think they are pretty much lunatics, but whatever! 

Some walk because they have no other choice.  Yet others walk, for others. 

You may have an idea where this post is going, but you’re probably only half right. 

About 3 years ago my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, and began that ugly and dreaded fight.  She won.  Thank God.  But we still walk.  We walk with her, and for her. 

Yeah, Race for the Cure, but I’m looking at something so much bigger than that.  Yesterday the Race for the Cure was here in Little Rock.  Downtown was flooded with approximately 46,000 people in pink.  It’s a remarkable site.  And because it is a cause that has affected me personally, I intend in no way to take away from that. 

I wanted to snap a picture, as usual, so I stopped on the Broadway bridge to look back and snag one.  This is what I got:

See it?  46,000 people paid $25 each to walk across this bridge together, while some of our city’s homeless neighbors gathered under the same bridge to grab a meal not knowing when they’ll get another one. 

Again, I’m NOT trying to take anything away from the Race for the Cure.  But…..

…..when I saw this, it froze me.  I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if 46,000 people flooded Little Rock…..paid $25 each….so they could walk WITH our homeless neighbors…..to help fight homelessness in our community. 

Yeah, I gotta hit you with it.  That’s a total of $1,150,000.

Walking for breast cancer, though, is sexy.  Walking for homelessness is not. 

Don’t believe me?  Los Angeles which has tens of thousands of homeless people, has a walk each year.  Do you know how many people have came and walked? 13,000 people in 3 years. 

Thirteen thousand people…..in 3 years, in a place the size of LA.  Yet, here in little ‘ole Little Rock, we can mobilize 46,000 in one day…..with a sexy cause.    

Why are we so dedicated to causes that are socially sexy?  Why are we obsessed with all things “sexy”? 

When are we, as a people, going to stop displaying such vanity, even in our outreach?