setup: [E-Mail Ministry] Don't We All

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DON'T WE ALL

I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car. I had just come from
the car wash and was waiting for my wife to get out of work. Coming my way
from across the parking lot was what society would consider a bum. From the
looks of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no money. There
are times when you feel generous but there are other times that you just
don't want to be bothered. This was one of those "don't want to be bothered
times."

"I hope he doesn't ask me for any money," I thought.

He didn't.

He came and sat on the curb in front of the bus stop but he didn't look like
he could have enough money to even ride the bus.

After a few minutes he spoke.

"That's a very pretty car," he said.

He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around him. His scraggly blond
beard keep more than his face warm.

I said, "thanks," and continued wiping off my car.

He sat there quietly as I worked. The expected plea for money never came.
As the silence between us widened something inside said, "ask him if he
needs any help." I was sure that he would say "yes" but I held true to the
inner voice.

"Do you need any help?" I asked.

He answered in three simple but profound words that I shall never forget. We
often look for wisdom in great men and women. We expect it from those of
higher learning and accomplishments. I expected nothing but an outstretched
grimy hand. He spoke the three words that shook me.

"Don't we all?" he said.

I was feeling high and mighty, successful and important, above a bum in the
street, until those three words hit me like a twelve gauge shotgun.

Don't we all?

I needed help. Maybe not for bus fare or a place to sleep, but I needed
help. I reached in my wallet and gave him not only enough for bus fare, but
enough to get a warm meal and shelter for the day. Those three little words
still ring true. No matter how much you have, no matter how much you have
accomplished, you need help too. No matter how little you have, no matter
how loaded you are with problems, even without money or a place to sleep,
you can give help. Even if it's just a compliment, you can give that.

You never know when you may see someone that appears to have it all. They
are waiting on you to give them what they don't have. A different
perspective on life, a glimpse at something beautiful, a respite from daily
chaos, that only you through a torn world can see.

Maybe the man was just a homeless stranger wandering the streets. Maybe he
was more than that. Maybe he was sent by a power that is great and wise, to
minister to a soul too comfortable in themselves.

Maybe God looked down, called an Angel, dressed him like a bum, then said,
"go minister to that man cleaning the car, that man needs help."

Don't we all?

-- Author Unknown

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