 Ev It is a daily occurrence when I pass a homeless soul and almost daily am approached for food, money or both. As with many people, this makes me feel uneasy, on edge and frightened while at the same time ashamed as if I am to be the hands and feet of Jesus and if I am really to treat “…the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me;” so now I am conflicted in addition to all the other feelings.
Often I think, I will walk in the parks around the office building I work and hand out bottles of water or protein bars, and then actually ask the person’s name and chat a while. However, each time I leave the comfort of my office, the security of the building and venture into the park, I again walk past the homeless souls without saying a word or seeing them. Then recently, my pastor gave the congregation a challenge to carry a pre-made bag of food and hand it out to those in need. The real challenge was to see them as a Child of God. I was excited as this was in-line with what I had been thinking of doing adding accountability when I picked up the bags of food from church, I knew I could do this. So there I was, a Tuesday morning, all equipped with a bag of food, I boldly walked from the parking garage to office building, ready to hand this little bag to the man I see every day. However, the closer I walked, the more nervous I became and the flood of emotions started to run through my veins, only this time the fear was so strong and taking hold. Then I see the man is talking with another and the feeling of ‘not enough,’ was added to my shoulder load of fear, as I only had one food bag and not two. By the time I walked past them, I was so shaken I don’t think I even looked their way and yes, the feeling of shame swept over me as well. Dear Mother Father Creator God, oh Lord, please help me to help others, help me to reach beyond my fear of meeting other people and the fear of seeing the souls living on the streets. Help me to find solitude in you, that one day I will overcome. One day, I can reach out and until then, you are blessing and continually caring for all your children. In your many names. Amen Matthew 25:40 NIV “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” |