On a warm Saturday in June I took my wife to the Dallas Museum of Art. Among the collections I am most fascinated with sculpture. The amount of skill required to create even the smallest piece amazes me.
I don’t know if I have the patience. We take a large stone and begin to chisel away. Slowly out of the dust comes a rough shape that few might recognize. Then little by little as chips fall to the floor a work of art appears. But in my haste, I take too strong of a hit on a small bump and WHAM – half of the face hits the floor. Nope – I don’t have the patience.
But what I am most amazed at is the value that our culture places on material possessions. Some of these pieces of art are worth millions. They are guarded as prized possessions and protected from environmental and even the effects of time itself. We value these – so we care for them.
Value? What does that term really mean in our society? What price do we pay to care for those pieces of art?
A quick Google search yields the financial details of the museum from a few years past. It appears that more money is spent housing those relics of history – than the homeless in Dallas.
What does this communicate about our society? I love the museum and will return to continue appreciating the pieces of art. But every night thousands of homeless men and women will sleep on the concrete without air conditioning or security, while another statue sleeps quietly guarded at 72 degrees.
Wayne Walker
Pastor to the Homeless 
