There are throw-away people in our society. We don’t admit it. We conveniently ignore this reality, but, nevertheless, it is true. I have been aware for many years that the very elderly among us can potentially fall into that category. About 18 years ago, an older gentleman at a nursing home requested a visit from a minister. The church I was serving at the time was only a few blocks away, so somehow that request landed on my desk. I went to see him late one afternoon.

The facility that man lived in still holds the award in my mind for the worst nursing home I ever stepped foot in during my adult life. It was despicable. It had moved beyond what a few cases of Lysol and a decent housekeeping staff could accomplish. It needed to be evacuated and then imploded. The State of Texas actually shut down that geriatric house of horrors sometime later. Thankfully, what is left of that building is now buried somewhere. But no one cared that the old man I went to see was living in deplorable conditions. He had no family or friends to see to his needs. Somehow he was placed in an institution and forgotten. He was a throw-away person in our society.

I have also known that those among us who are struggling with mental and emotional disorders are more prone to become throw-away people. People who are paranoid schizophrenic or severely bipolar can end up on the streets, if they do not have a strong family system to provide ongoing support. Over the years as a law enforcement chaplain, I have encountered many homeless people who have all kinds of mental issues, but they often go without needed medications and other forms of assistance. They end joining the ranks of throw-away people because they don’t have families that are capable of taking care of their needs.

Recently I added a new group to those whom society places in the throw-away person category. In the economy we are facing today, people in their 50s and 60s are finding it difficult to find work. I recently assisted a family whose loved one committed suicide. He was a man in his 60s who felt useless and depressed. He could not find work, and age was a major factor that contributed to that. Yesterday I encountered a homeless man living in his car. He, too, is in his early 60s. The kinds of manual labor that he has done over the years have either been replaced by more sophisticated machinery, or he, too, finds that prospective employers would rather hire a younger person. These individuals find themselves among the throw-away people before they are even eligible for Social Security benefits.

I don’t like it. I don’t like it at all. All of these individuals I have described were created in God’s image. They are as worthy of respect as anyone else. Perhaps we are called to reclaim those that society has thrown away. It might be that the discarded among us could be some of our richest human treasures. I don’t know exactly how to solve such a problem, but recent experiences have me pondering. I am thinking about the throw-away people among us today.