Origin: posted by Bella L to the original La Bella Journeys on 4/10/14
The city is busy.
I watched those around me hurry off to their various destinations, as I leisurely strolled down market street. The sun was shining, the sky was clear… Spring had finally decided to show its face here in Philadelphia. I like to people watch. I like the feeling of being around so many people. I love the possibility of meeting someone new, having a conversation or an encounter with someone normally not noticed…
Yet in the midst of my wandering, in the midst of observation; something caught my eye and took away any warmth I was feeling.
A few feet in front of me, warming himself in the sun, was a middle aged man laying on the sidewalk. He appeared to be homeless, black shorts worn and torn, a plastic garbage bag full of his belongings tucked under his head as a pillow.
His feet were blackened, had sores on them, and looked as if they were very painful. Everyone mulled around him, moving quickly by. He did not ask or beg for a handout. He did not hold a sign expressing his need. No, his need was out for all the world to see…
I looked down at my own feet, very aware of the sneakers I was wearing that were given to me by someone very kind.
“I should give him my shoes.”
I looked at his feet. They were small enough for him to wear my sneakers. I was only one block from my Trolley stop,wand was headed home, so I’d be able to get another pair of shoes. As I slowed my pace and began to stop, I realized that public transit wouldn’t let me on without shoes. I’d seen them turn someone away the weekend before.
So when the man looked up at me while I passed by… I quickened my pace.
In the hours to follow, I sat with that moment replaying over and over in my head. Most people would say, “well, you thought about it, but there was nothing you could do… just let it go.”
I’m not satisfied with that.
I could have acted, out of faith, that something would work out for me… and given this man my shoes. why didn’t I? Well really, outta fear… Fearful that if I provided for another, I wouldn’t be provided for. In a world where we need a cardboard sign or a class taught by a professor for us to understand what someone else needs are, its fairly easy to be swept up in our individualism and focus on self first…
But what if those of us who claimed to believe in a higher power, those of us who desire to follow the ways Jesus taught, Those of us who desire to pursue true community- what if we decided to actually live out these things we talk about? What if we had enough faith, love, and trust in the God we believe in and the communities (churches) He tries to bless us with that we stepped out and were not afraid to stand in the gap?
I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I do think that if I continue to pursue deeper though, deeper conversations, around this issue… we may actually get somewhere and help somebody.
Food for Thought.
I looked down at my own feet, very aware of the sneakers I was wearing that were given to me by someone very kind.
“I should give him my shoes.”
I looked at his feet. They were small enough for him to wear my sneakers. I was only one block from my Trolley stop,wand was headed home, so I’d be able to get another pair of shoes. As I slowed my pace and began to stop, I realized that public transit wouldn’t let me on without shoes. I’d seen them turn someone away the weekend before.
So when the man looked up at me while I passed by… I quickened my pace.
In the hours to follow, I sat with that moment replaying over and over in my head. Most people would say, “well, you thought about it, but there was nothing you could do… just let it go.”
I’m not satisfied with that.
I could have acted, out of faith, that something would work out for me… and given this man my shoes. why didn’t I? Well really, outta fear… Fearful that if I provided for another, I wouldn’t be provided for. In a world where we need a cardboard sign or a class taught by a professor for us to understand what someone else needs are, its fairly easy to be swept up in our individualism and focus on self first…
But what if those of us who claimed to believe in a higher power, those of us who desire to follow the ways Jesus taught, Those of us who desire to pursue true community- what if we decided to actually live out these things we talk about? What if we had enough faith, love, and trust in the God we believe in and the communities (churches) He tries to bless us with that we stepped out and were not afraid to stand in the gap?
I don’t claim to have all the answers, but I do think that if I continue to pursue deeper though, deeper conversations, around this issue… we may actually get somewhere and help somebody.
Food for Thought.
La Bella Journeys: 