"When he saw me he gathered himself together with reluctance and stood fully revealed. It was a curious attitude of mingled effrontery and apology. 'Hit me if you dare,' blustered his outward personality. 'For God's sake, don't hit me,' cried the innate fear in his eyes. I stopped and looked at him sharply. His eyes dropped, his look slid away, so that I experienced a sense of shame, as though I had trampled upon him.
"I confess that my first impulse, and a strong one, was to kick him for the good of the human race. No man has a right to be like that.
"And then, quite suddenly, I had a great revulsion of feeling. What was I that I should judge without knowledge? Perhaps, after all, here was one bearing treasure. So I said:
"' You are the man I have been expecting.'
"He did not reply, only flashed his eyes at me, wherein fear deepened.
""'I have been saving a coat for you,' I said, 'and a pair of shoes. They are not much worn,' I said, 'but a little too small for me. I think they will fit you.'
"He looked at me again, not sharply, but with a sort of weak cunning. So far he had not said a work.
"'I think our supper is nearly ready," I said: 'let us go in.'"
David Grayson/Ray Stannard Baker
Adventures In Contentment
Grosset & Dunlap 1907
I would love to share the whole story, but I've already taken more liberty than I should. What strikes me is, while fiction, I suspect Mr. Baker has accurately portrayed the inner feelings of a homeless person. (used to be called tramps) And sadly, I suspect, he has captured our feelings when we see someone standing on a corner with a sign or crouched in a doorway. We can't stop the thoughts and we can't always help--and sometimes shouldn't. But, we can pray for the person and if God "does" ask us to do something (even if it's only to smile or say hi), we can be obedient.
We often see bumper stickers that say, "Start Seeing Motorcycles." Do we "see" the homeless? Or do we look through them or past them? No one wants to be invisible.
EverGrowing,
Lonnie
P.S. Incredible book, by the way. And while fiction, Grayson's/Baker's biography bears much resemblance to his story. Grayson has wonderful wit and wisdom. Reading this book is about as relaxing to me as some would think it would be to lounge in a hammock beneath a full-leafed maple tree.
