~A MORSEL OF KINDNESS?~It was upon exiting the parking lot of the book shoppe that I saw him. Just to the right of me, he stood there alone while holding a sign that said...
"PLEASE HELP - Will Work For Food - God Bless"
Now~I try to be a nice person! I'm more than benevolent at times. But, I must admit...I WAS perturbed and irritated when I saw the scribbled words sprawled across the dirty cardboard... On the inside I was even thinking...
"Gosh~ Another beggar man!!??? They are everywhere these days! Get a job and quit expecting me to hand over my hard-earned money to you so you can go and drink it away!"
Truthfully I wanted to pull my car into the nearest right hand lane to avoid meeting the beggar eye to eye. But since the shortest drive back to my house was only possible by going left, I had no choice but to steer my car directly in front of the man...
Now...as hard as I tried NOT to look at the wayfaring stranger beside me, I couldn't help it. For, regardless of WHAT it was that brought this fellow human being to this questionable fork in the road, I could be thankful for at least one thing at the moment...I wasn't him! And, his burdens were not mine...
Or were they?
The spirit of God tugged a bit at my heart that afternoon as I patiently waited (begged) for the red light to change to green. I was languishing in my air-conditioned, late model SUV, suffering in silence when I found myself begin to slowly turn my head in his direction.
"Why do you judge him so harshly, Rebecca?" I heard an inner voice say...
The man's face was swollen and his hands were gnarled. Although he looked much older I decided he was probably born not more than a year or two before me. His shoes were ripped and worn and his hat cast only a small shadow over his noticeably blue eyes...
"You can spare a dollar or two, can't you?" the inner voice whispered...
"No, I can't! Not again! Turn GREEN, Light!"
With only a quick glance my way the beggar man offered up what seemed like a sincere smile and then walked directly past my car to the waving hand behind me... Before he could again shuffle by my car's window, I was rescued by the changing signal...
For whatever it is worth I felt terribly guilty during the entire fifteen minute drive back to my home. My shame didn't come from keeping the few dollars safely hidden within my pocket. No...it came from the attitude I'd formed long before I even turned my car onto the busy street...the unspoken words that said "I'm better than you! More of a success! While you beg...I work!"
My thoughts were the shackles...
I heard it said once that servanthood requires little skill and certainly no degree. Regardless of our gifts, strengths, training or church attendance, we all can love the lost.
When we share joy with the lonely child, befriend the foreign student, speak kindly to the welfare mother, minister to the suffering or give alms to the poor, we show our love for the Lord. After all, he dresses in the garb of the forgotten...
"Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me~you did it to me". (Matthew 25-40-MSG).
Blessings to you as you lay your thoughts and attitudes at the feet of the Most High...Rebecca
