Helping the Homeless in Gloucestershire

Why does GEAR Exist?

Over the years we have given Shelter to many people.They were children once and as children and young adults they would generally have had the same kinds of hopes and aspirations as the rest of us. Somewhere along the line these keenly felt dreams were blunted. We do what we do because of this story:

There was once a poor peasant farmer who had very little in his life apart from his land, horse and family. He lived by the soil and relied almost totally upon his horse in order to achieve his livelihood. The farmer’s needs were small and were met by the fruits of the soil tilled by the power of the horse.

One day his horse ran off and the farmer’s prospects dipped as his soil could no longer be tilled. The news soon spread and his fellow villagers empathised with him, speaking about his bad luck. The farmer’s reply astonished them as he merely said “Bad luck? Good luck? Who Knows? We live in hope”. He went about his business as best he could.

A few days later his horse returned bringing with it twenty wild ponies and this time the farmer was surrounded by people talking enviously about his good luck. Once again he replied “ Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows? We live in hope”.

It was but a week later that his only son was thrown from one of the ponies he was trying to tame and broke his leg. The doctor set his leg and commiserated with him once more talking about bad luck. The son was truly the son of his father for he replied “ Bad luck? Good luck ? Who knows? We live in hope”.

It was only the following day that war was declared and all the young men throughout the land were called upon to fight. The son with his leg in plaster could not go and even today is somewhere living in hope.

Anthony de Mello

I use this story because it is so easy to forget that for many of the people we deal with, hopes, dreams and aspirations have long been replaced by a sense of hopelessness, a process, an insidious erosion of self esteem which limits any progress.. Giving hope to the hopeless is our greatest achievement.

B.M. Jones