I glanced at the line of cars in front of me, all of us waiting for the light to turn green… I noticed a young man standing on the side of the off ramp, trying to look nonchalant in the misting rain as he shifted from one foot to the other, like he wanted to run away, but couldn’t quite get the momentum up to actually leave.
After a few minutes, he approached several cars nearest the intersection, presumably to accept whatever those drivers were willing to give him…
As I sat in my car all snug and dry, I wondered what happened in this young man’s life, what circumstances conspired to bring him to this time and place? A lost job? Homelessness? An unforeseen illness? Childhood abuse? Some sort of addiction? One thing I felt certain of, he wouldn’t have been out begging in this terrible weather unless he was rather desperate…
So I reached into my console and pulled out a few bills to hand over as I drove past…
“Thank you sweetheart,” was his reply.
The next day I read an article which endeavored to answer the question “Why is luck called the grace of God?”
I thought back to the man standing on the fringe of uptown, quietly pleading for help and mercy, risking rejection and ridicule in a steady drizzle in order to put a couple of bucks in his pocket…
My idea of grace includes undeserved favor and/or fortune, and also blessings of the ordinary. Said differently, for me, grace is equally about what didn’t happen as well as what did.
I don’t know what he needed the money for…and really, it doesn’t matter. Some people may not agree with handing over cash in this sort of situation, but I felt like it was the right thing to do. It wasn’t going to solve his problems, but maybe it was enough for a biscuit, hot cup of coffee and a shot of courage to face another day.
Because truly, how far removed are most of us from walking in his shoes?
Wishing you many blessings…tg
Tammy will update her blog twice weekly…
