Day 28: LOVE

“If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:3

Oh this stop light again! You know the one coming off of Father Hurley Boulevard and onto 355? I hope I get the green light and can just wiz by. Every time I see that lady standing in the median strip I get this award unsettling feeling. “Homeless, out of work with three kids.” Is that true? If I give her money she’ll probably just use it for drugs! Maybe she is just a con artist or something!

The judgmental statements continue to rush through my mind, in hopes that I can justify what I am about to do... NOTHING. I just turn up my “Christian” music, lock the door, avoid eye contact and hit the gas as soon as possible to move away from this akward situation. Hey, I don’t know her!

I have done this many times. No doubt I am wrestling with this. I saw the movie, The Soloist, the other day, and it seemed like what the homeless person needed most was a friend. Okay, I’ll try something different this time. I’ll just say, “Hi.”

I pull up my car closer to her and roll down the window, still feeling uneasy about the whole situation – but then our eyes connect. All of my judgments come to a halt. Her glassy eyes, the lines on her face... each detail about her looked like it had been worn down, like life had just chiseled away and taken from her whatever chunk or piece it wanted.

I ask, “How are you doing?” A glimmer of hope sparkles in her eyes. The cup in her hand is right away released to her side. Money is not even mentioned. She quickly begins to share with me some of her story. Turns out she was more eager for me to just listen than she was concerned about how much change I could scrounge up. To be treated like a person rather than an object was more valuable to her than any amount of money in my wallet. She needed (needs) what most of us want and have – a friend.

“How are you doing?” Those four simple words might have been the most import words of my day! Then the verse in 1 Corinthians 13:3 hits me again, “If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.”

Love... it is not about material possessions, though supplying practical needs may be a piece of the fruit of it. It is not about pride or even having the right words. It is about being – being there for someone... seeing and responding to a person... not pretending they are invisible. The world will do that, but not our Jesus! He did not ignore the prostitute, the tax collector, the sick, the poor, the rich, the pure at heart or the complicated. He simply rushed to LOVE them.

I need to work on this area of loving people. I need to rush to LOVE the people God places in my life, or simply in my path. How about you?

~Wendy Mindte