homeless, cold, and hungry

--How many times have you been accosted by someone for food or money?

--How many times has someone told you not to give away your resources because it will be spent on drugs and alcohol?

Yes, I know that the homeless can be addicted to harmful substances, hence their life situation. But, don't they deserve the love of Christ as well?

After meeting a few guys on Michigan Avenue, including Bruce and Ugly Old Toad (he insisted upon that title) I began to rethink what it means to give, and give joyfully without a heart full of bitter suspicion.

How do I do this wisely and only give to the honest?  I can't.  There is no way that I can read the minds of these men, but what I can do is pray...pray that God lets me make eye contact with those who truly need help, and ones that I can help with the resources I have.  What kind of resources?  It may be 5 bucks, a turkey sandwich, prayer, or a smile that says to them "You are a human being too."  One of the things that bothered some of the men most was that people duck their heads and refuse to even look at them.  It hurts to be out in the cold, and probably hurts even more to be dehumanized by your fellow man.

If I am idealistic, you can let me know.  It's not the first time I have been accused of such a thing.  But the following haunts me, I cannot escape it...

The He also said to him who invited Him, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  Luke 14:12-14

Ugly Old Toad can't pay you back.