Granola

I coasted down the exit ramp and up to the stoplight on Lake St, headed home on the same route I must have taken at least a thousand times by now. Same old, same old. The homeless guy is there on the corner, complete with Sharpie-on-creased-and-oily-cardboard, a sign sprawled with the inevitable combination of 'homeless', 'anything helps', 'hungry family', and 'God bless'. The light had just turned red, so no chance of simply driving away. Dang. Same old, same old.

I mentally ran through my wallet - ATM Wednesday, no cash purchases since then... That leaves me with 2 crisp $20 bills. Not a chance I'm parting with either of those! My preferred method is to roll down the window, give him a dollar (maybe two if it's payday or my birthday) and a Hallmark-card variant of 'best wishes', then drive merrily on my way. That way he moves on to heckle the next car, and I feel better about my bad self - I shared, and even if it wasn't a lot, heck, none of the cars behind me gave anything, so.... yeah.

Favorite method or not, the petty cash option was clearly out this time around. Perhaps it was time for more drastic measures?? I sifted through my bag of tricks - intently scour every radio station available in order to find the perfect song; answer a fake phone call; put on my best version of a burnt out, slightly depressed commuter oblivious to the world outside my prison cell on wheels... They've all been clutch moves in the past. But for whatever reason, this particular time my conscience just wasn't having it. As the seconds ticked by for what seemed like an eternity, my resolve quickly eroded.

And then I was hit with an idea. Lately I've been in this terrible habit of being 'too busy' to eat meals at home, resulting in way too many fast food dinners and an endless stockpile of breakfast bars in the backseat. So I turned around, grabbed the first box I could find, and rolled down the window:

'Hey dude! I don't have any cash,' [I lied,] 'but would you want some granola bars?'

'Sure, thanks!'

'No problem! Happy Easter!!'

And then, as the light turned green and I began rolling away,

'Whoa! Today is Easter? No shit!! I had no idea!'

I barely made it the last two miles home... It was 6:40 in the evening - how many times had I been wished Happy Easter already that day? Dozens, if not hundreds - roommates, countless people at church, the family at dinner, phone calls from more distant relatives, people on Facebook, even the grocery store clerk!

How devoid of human interaction must his life have been in order to be completely oblivious to the fact that it was Easter?! Not a single soul on earth took the time to say they loved him or they hoped his day went well or to share praises for a personal, loving savior conquering death... I felt my heart for this man shatter into a million little pieces.

. . .

This is a revelation that has been haunting me ever since. It would be hard, but I think I could probably get by without great-tasting food, clean clothes, maybe even a roof over my head... But a constant state of loneliness? Being forgotten, neglected, ignored?? These are the things of deep, dark nightmares that plague my soul!! And why should another man whose name I don't know (does anyone know his name?!) be any different?? Sure, he could be an addict, a runaway, a criminal, mentally unstable. But those things don't make him any less human or any more impervious to pain... He's still just like me. Hell, that could be me! Or even you... All it would take is a few unfortunate turns of events completely out of our control and any one of us could find ourselves standing out there. Job from the Old Testament comes crashing to the forefront of my mind...

I used to think money was the greatest need of the poor. I'd generally receive one of two responses, the first being 'only give if it brings you joy'. I say, 'give, and it will bring joy to you'. Kind of like exercising - no one likes to do it initially, but force yourself to get into a rhythm, and pretty soon you'll be joyfully riding the adrenaline rush to a longer and healthier life. Other people argue that giving is enabling - 'they'll use it to feed their addictions or drown their sorrows'. If that's your opinion and you're doing something else to help them - giving them food or gift cards instead of cash, volunteering at a homeless shelter, whatever - then I believe you. But if that's your stance and you're doing nothing in place of giving financially, then I call bull. It's an excuse, a cop-out, a way to write off the responsibility to love your fellow man. Do something to acknowledge that they're human - smile and nod, wave hello, have a short conversation, sit down next to them and listen to their story... Do anything!

Because their greatest needs are exactly the same as ours - to be known, needed, loved, respected.

I'm not perfect by any means, especially in this area - I lie, I ignore, I'm selfish, I convince myself my time is too important for them. But I implore you, brothers, to remember that 'it is far better to give than to receive'. He seemed genuinely excited about those granola bars (just $2 at the grocery store, the exact equivalent of my petty cash move - amazing how we try to disguise our sins even from ourselves!), and I'm sure he did enjoy them. But it certainly wasn't for the sole sake of his stomach that I was urged to give at that particular time.

Between the beggar and the giver, there's no doubt in my mind who had the greater need met that day.