Giving

Our friends in the park have been given different labels. Depending on how you see them depends on the label you give them. I have seen them have things thrown at them as they walk down the street. Harassed, spit on and even have had a few of our friends beaten with in a inch of their lives, all because they have less than most of us have.

Saturday in the park was a lesson on the heart of people. After we served up our meal I was approached by a gentleman who reached over a placed something in my pocket. I looked to see what he had placed there and in my hand was a twenty-dollar bill. I told him I couldn’t take his money and after debating back and forth, he insisted I take it and use it for food for the park. No less than a half hour later another one of our friends came up and placed another twenty-dollar bill in my pocket. This is when I lost it, I broke down and started crying and spoke to him about how deeply his generosity had touched me and what it meant to us. We both stood crying and hugging each other. My son and I hung out for about another hour or so just talking to people when someone else approached us and asked for water, I told him he didn’t need to ask to just take what he needed. He did and walked off, to my surprise he returned about fifteen minutes later and he places a dollar bill in my pocket, saying it was to help others.

So your sitting here reading this and thinking, okay so it was a couple of twenties and dollar bill, what’s the big deal? Let’s see twenty dollars could buy them a cheap hotel for the night to stay out of the cold and rain. It could feed them for a few days. It could buy a sleeping bag to keep them warm through the winter. The list goes on and on. Instead they choose to give all they had. To give from their heart, putting aside their own needs and wants. Giving to help provide for others. They gave out of love for others. These are the same people who have been called bums, worthless, users and the least of our society.

Society may conceder them the least, but there are lessons we as a whole could learn from our friends on loving and giving unconditionally from the heart.