True Story. Choices we make.

On this sweltering hot summer day, I was out running errands in my car. I could see the heat from the asphalt rising on the road ahead. I approached a traffic light to make a left turn. There was one car in front of me as I stopped in the left turning lane for the red light. I could see, on the boulevard just ahead on the left of the car in front of me, a street person sitting on the hot cement boulevard. Homeless, according to his sign. He looked exhausted, and hot. He didn’t look dressed for a summer day.

Before pulling up to this intersection, I happen to be thinking of a scene from the TV Series The Chosen where Jesus says, “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink.”

I typically don’t give money to people on street corners. Maybe once in a while, but generally, no. On this day, I was going to follow my usual behaviour and make my turn without giving the person anything. My regular decision is based on my skepticism about the authenticity of them being homeless or in need, and whether or not my giving them money really helps their plight. Even if I don’t give them anything I generally try to wish them well, give them a smile, and on some days, I might say a prayer for them, in my head.

Then it hit me.

The line about not giving Jesus something to eat or drink.

Am I really going to drive on without giving this guy anything?

So, I pulled out my wallet and got a bill to give him. The light turned green. I put my window down and edged slowly towards the boulevard. He saw me approaching, got up and came to my window. I gave him the money. I could tell he was overwhelmed and thankful. We smiled.

I never did come to a full stop when approaching him.

Meantime, behind me was a car who had most likely seen this man and knew what I was doing. He started honking his horn and making rude one finger gestures. We both made the turn, then he proceeded to pass me and cut in front of me, all the while yelling and swearing at me.

I simply gave him a peace sign.

I don’t share this story to say, hey look at me, what a nice guy I am. Because, trust me, I don’t do this often. But on this day, I did. I made a choice to listen to the voice inside me. You can say it was God, the universe, or whatever you choose. But this voice exists inside each of us—that, most of us do believe.

The driver had a choice too. I don’t want to pass judgement on him. Maybe he was having a really bad day. Not an excuse, but we all screw up one way or another at different times.

I’m not advocating we all go around giving money to every street person we see who might be in need. But maybe, just maybe, we should listen to that voice more often.

That voice is real.

Picture Credit: ChatGPT AI generated image of the description I gave it.