His skin is dark and leathery, a trademark of someone who spends the vast majority of his time out in the sun. It is a Monday, the temperature hovers around one hundred and ten degrees, and he is on the move, again. He has shoulder length mostly gray hair, laced with some darker hair, and appears to be about fifty. When we call out to him, he looks nervously about , wondering if I am friend or foe, then he sees we are offering cold water, his look of apprehension becomes one of desperation. He comes over to us, and happily takes the icy bottle of water. My friend asks him how he is doing, and he says what we have heard many others say, time after time, “I’m just trying to make it, to survive”.

The man leans on his shopping cart and eats the granola bar as though it is a prime rib dinner. I ask him if he is managing to stay in the shade, and he says no, everywhere there is shade, the police run me off, they say it is bad for the businesses. I look into his eyes and recognize a look that I recognize immediately, I have seen it many times before in the eyes of abandoned dogs I have seen at the pound. It is a look of loneliness and homelessness, a look of someone who has nothing left but a few precious mementos in a shopping cart, a look of someone who is low in spirit.

We greet another man sitting at a bus stop bench and offer him water and food, he accepts and then begins to speak, yet he makes no sense. He is obviously someone who suffers from mental illness and doesn’t have the resources to treat it. I think if Jesus were here he would want us to embrace rather than push away those who cannot help their actions due to illness. My heart aches.

We encounter a man on a bicycle who is also homeless and offer him the same, and he gladly accepts the water and granola, but stops at one bottle. He thanks us then tells us in a very clear and lucid manner that he is also a follower of Christ, and that he too is saved. He then tells us he has lost the path in his walk and really wants to get back on track. He asks where we go to church, and we tell him. We talked for a few minutes with him, and he was very encouraged that we took the time to treat him as a human, which is something that most homeless or down and out people do not get very often, dignity.

Many times when we see someone pushing a shopping cart, do we stop to take the time to look at them as a person, or an eyesore. Do we think about them as an equal in the kingdom, or do we just hope that they do not come to our neighborhood. I think if we took the time to talk to them sometimes, we would be shocked to find that they are not so different from us. Many times there is a fine line separating those who are on the street from us.

The homeless have been with us for thousands of years, and they will continue to be with us for whatever time we have left. I ask you to leave your comfort zone and help some soul that can no longer help themselves, show them love, don’t judge and offer them dignity and when you do you wash the feet of the savior.

Matthew 25:34-40

 ³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

 ³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

 ⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.

God Bless and Keep You-Always

JFT

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