As I spent my first afternoon “generating community awareness” for the “Have a Heart for the Homeless” concert, I happened to meet a woman named Maria.
Around the age of 60, Maria is a beautiful, soft-spoken woman who lives on the streets of Lakeland. She asked me for change, and almost out of habit, I responded:
“Sorry, I don’t carry cash.”
Then, the weight of the poster I carried showed my own hypocrisy. How could I carry a poster titled “Have a Heart for the Homeless” if, in a hurry to help them from afar, I refused to spend a moment with an individual?
I stopped and turned to face Maria fully.
“I don’t carry cash, but if you’re hungry, I’d love to buy you lunch.”
So I did.
Brian | 04-Feb-08 at 5:42 pm | Permalink
“Do everything without complaining or arguing. Then you will be blameless and innocent. You will be God’s children without any faults among people who are crooked and corrupt. You will shine like stars among them in the world.” Philippians 2:14-15
SHINE!
Victoria | 12-Feb-08 at 4:47 pm | Permalink
So even though you’ve already shared this story with me when I read the account again it reminded me of how quick we are to do or say things out of habit without even thinking. God calls us to love and that requires us to see people as individuals- individuals that have a story of their own they long to share.