So I was walking through the park this afternoon on my way from the gym to my apartment. As I neared my building I saw a homeless guy taking a siesta under a tree. This is not uncommon, seeing someone with no place to live making the best of one of DC's many parks. As I passed, I noticed that he wasn't wearing any shoes. Strangely, I had just walked passed a felloow who had on some shoes that looked just like a pair that I had donated at church a few years ago... Strange to think of such a thing, and even stranger to immediately follow the thought by seeing someone who apparently doesn't have any shoes. I had continued passed the sleeping guy and was almost to my building by the time my thought process was finished. "If I can donate shoes to the chruch, why cna't I just give some to that guy?" So I turned around and walked back to the guy, anticipating that he might be surprised by my small offering of remarkably old Nike Free's. (The irony of offering a homeless person a pair of running shoes designed to make your feet feel like you AREN'T wearing shoes escaped me until after our interaction.)
(At this point I must note that, and anyone who knows me will attest, my donation to the gentleman was definately the product of my impulsive nature far more than any sense of generosity I might claim).
So anyway, I walked up to the guy and said, "Hey man, do you need some shoes?" to which the man looked me straight in the eye and responded, "Oh no thank you, I have some shoes." and motioned torward a plastic bag that apparently contained something that could cover his feet. "Ok, man." I aknowledged. He thanked me for offering and I went on my way.
How many of us would have the sense of contentment to deny a gift of that sort? The guy had nothing at all, and by comparison I have everything. And yet, when I offered him something that he did not NEED, he politely declined, noting that that need was already met. Most of us go through life with the exact opposite attitude - we accept whatever we can get our hands on, only afterwards taking the time to see if we by chance need or even want it.
When Jesus prayed, He asked God to "give us this day our daily bread...". That is, just enough for the day, not a storehouse filled for an eternity of tomorrows. How many of us are content when our needs are met? How many of us even realize it when we've reached the point of excess?
I thought I would show unselfishness to a homeless guy in the park who had nothing to his name, and yet he showed it to me instead. It was a humbling walk home.
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