Re: The Living Word Fellowship, The Walk, John Robert Stevens
Date: January 09, 2019 01:17PM
completely unrelated to lw/shiloh conversation, cults,etc. a few days ago, a man, bedraggled, white, perhaps mid 40's was passing by on the sidewalk outside my store wearing torn garments, a ragged beard and hair, a staggered gait, gesticulating with his arms and hands, likely in response to the voices inside his head. i presumed that he was likely schizophrenic judging by his behavior. and then tonight as i was closing up, again, he was walking on the sidewalk outside my store. tonight was different from the previous day - the temps at freezing, but more significantly, the winds were howling at 30-35 mph with gusts into the 40s. any of you who have lived in cold winter climates, certainly appreciate the vast difference between a calm day in the low 30's vs same temp. but with howling winds. the difference, the former is like a soup spoon, the latter as the sharpest knife one ever put to a carrot or turkey. this man's garments were not adequate to the occasion - no scarf, no beanie, no long coat. so i unlocked my store and grabbed a scarf, gloves and beanie; i had no long coat there to offer him. i locked up my store and drove a block or two and found him, parked my car and gave him the gloves, scarf and beanie, articles of abundance to me. i told him that i was giving him the items so he could be warmer. he thanked me in the the kindest way and we parted. and as i then drove home i was not congratulating myself for a good deed performed but rather i was thinking about the story of the widow's mite which most of you know. i gave to that man resources abundant to me, i.e., i gave to him what in abundance i had but not even close to widow's mite. could i have done more to help this poor soul, perhaps without family or friends, with nowhere to go other than the homeless shelter a block away? without question, of course, yes. i could have been the widow in the widow's mite story but i chose not to be. i could have invited him to stay at my house in a spare bedroom where he would be warm and provide him with a nourishing and warm soup tapped off with a brew of burdock, peppermint and chamomile tea. but of course i did not do so - likely selfish concerns about my safety and unwanted involvement in an issue i did not want to be embroiled in.
i have laid out a calf-length winter coat to give to that man the next time i see him but it is of little consequence to me as i never wear it and, besides, i've another of similar fashion which i never wear. it is something i will give out of my relative abundance so no moral accolades are appropriate. had i invited him to my warm home and a warm and nourishing meal, then perhaps i could have been invited to the company of those "to the least of these, so have you done it to me". so tonight, my own moral compass spins.