for 7 JAN 06: COFFEE BROKE
(BLOGGER'S NOTE: You may find this humorous, serious, or a little of both - but from time to time, we offer things to reflect upon as we keep the seventh-day Sabbath.)
Yes, I know it's a cold winter weekend - but think back a few days. Wednesday was warm, the evening was mild, and I did something I don't think I've ever done in the first week of January. I ran more than three miles non-stop at the Riverwalk - and before all that wind kicked up to help, too.
It was a distance I didn't expect, so I was joyous heading to dinner after the run. So perhaps I should have seen something coming when I stopped to eat downtown....
BLOGGER BEGGAR #1: (We'll keep count throughout 2006.) "Could you do a guy a favor?" asked the man wearing an Alabama Crimson Tide coat, as he walked toward my car at the McDonald's at 14th and Veterans Parkway -- in the heart of the panhandling district.
"That depends on what it is." One man came to me at Krystal next door, saying voices in his head told him to go to Tuskegee. If I couldn't hear the voices, I wasn't going to make the trip.
"Could you lend me 55 cents for a cup of coffee?" Well, at least it wasn't four dollars outside a Starbucks.
"Let's go on in; I'm here to get dinner, anyway." I walked by the man and went to the door of McDonald's - but the man hardly moved a step.
"Just go in, buy me a cup of coffee and bring it out," the gray-haired man said. It was a low-scale version of "Charlie's Angels."
"What do you have in your hand?" I suddenly noticed his left hand in particular.
"A cup of coffee."
"So you have a cup of coffee, and you want me to buy you ANOTHER cup of coffee." Stockpiling for an emergency, perhaps.
Yes, he wanted an extra cup of coffee. "And after that, you'll want me to get you another one and another one?!" I've seen some beggars who seem prepared to keep asking until they drive home with the keys to your car.
"No, just this one." Limit one per customer - and in this case, I think I was the customer.
"Come on in, sir," I then said holding the McDonald's door wide open.
"I don't want the folks in there to know I'm bummin'." This could be translated another way -- they know, and they've kicked me out once already.
I refused to accept this answer. "You're already begging out here in the parking lot, sir. Why are you afraid of them? Why are you afraid of men, when God sees everything you're doing out here?"
This appeal apparently made sense to the man, because he joined me inside. For the purposes of this topic, I'll stop here and ask: does it make sense to YOU? Is there something you're fearful of doing, because friends or strangers might consider it weird - even though it's morally and ethically right?
I could come up with some examples, but you probably can do that as well. If you're concerned about what other people might say about your actions, remember something: there's a God in heaven who sees them as well. Sooner or later, you'll have to answer to Him -- not them.
COMING SUNDAY: The rest of this beggar's story.... and what do you know, it's a doubleheader weekend....
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