Revelation One

I shared this post earlier with a friend on FB.

I came upon a realization on Saturday morning while running errands and it shames me to share it, but I think it's important. I used to stop and contemplate whether or not to give money when I happened upon a beggar at an intersection. I would study them to determine their worthiness, and sometimes I would just be annoyed by them. Then on Saturday morning I happened upon a man with a bad leg who was holding the ubiquitous cardboard sign declaring his homeless status and some other information. Suddenly I got it. I had some money, he needed some money (far more than I did). So I called out to him by shouting "friend." And his face lit up as he turned in my direction and I gave him a handful of quarters and said, "Take care of yourself, friend." Later, in the day I gave some more money to another beggar. And today I did the same for an elderly beggar and this time when I gave him the money I pressed my hand into his and let it linger while I said, "Friend, be good to yourself." Now, I know, as long as I have money I will never again waste a single brain cell on what to do with it in the presence of a beggar.