I was looking at some of the old blogs and was moved by 'It Beggers Belief .' I travel to Liverpool every week and walk through the underpass between St John's Precinct and Lime Street Station. For at least two years I gave change to a chap sitting in that damp and dirty place. He was always so polite and grateful and I was very touched and saddened every time we had our almost weekly encounter. I often reflected that If I were a real Christian I should have taken him to one of the many 'eateries' in that area and bought him a hot meal ! but no, too radical for me!
Once when he gently squeezed my hand and thanked me in his gracious way he told me that his name was 'Mullah', we had a little chat and as we parted he said his usual 'look after yourself.'
Soon afterwards I saw 'Mullah' talking to two ladies and they turned out to be two long lost cousins! That was the last time I saw 'Mullah.'
Of course I prayed for him so perhaps my prayers were answered - I do hope so because if anyone deserved a helping hand it was 'Mullah,' - a real gentleman.
I know it's good to help in little ways folks like my friend but wouldn't it be wonderful if society was truly Christian and saw Jesus in a special way in the broken and downtrodden!
Anyway I'll pop back into my cave now!
Yogi
Wednesday, 28 March 2007
A Happy Ending?
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2 comments:
I hope it was a happy ending. It's interesting to think about how sometimes maybe God uses us as an agent of blessing, isn't it?
I was once coming out of the Wesley Owen bookshop in Liverpool when I had an encounter with a very amiable man. He said he was a Christian and talked warmly about his life back in the West Indies. Of course, what was coming was "I'm in Liverpool for a job interview and I've lost my wallet, I need money for a train ticket home, could you help me?" I didn't know what to do but wondered if it was a genuine problem. I gave him a fiver. If I had any sense, of course, I would have taken him to the station to test the credibility of his story. But I didn't, and instead of feeling in tune with God's will, I just felt like a total mug! It wasn’t helped by a ‘Christian friend’ I later told who pretty well confirmed that I was a mug! I don't know, he may have been genuine and if not, he has to answer to God, doesn't he?
I always feel that there is a great moral maze to dealing with beggars and the homeless. If yu give you can feel tht you have been conned, if you don't there is always that pang of guilt that perhaps this was a genuine case. I feel you have to do what you believe to be right whether you are being conned or not. After all, even a fiver is probably not going to break the bank and the usual 50p or a quid most people give certainly won't. So, without being the pharisee singing his own praises at the front of the temple, you can at least know that in your heart you have made a Christian act. We are asked to love our neighbour, not be his conscience.
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