Yesterday while driving my son and his friend in the rain, I avoided hitting a man trying to catch a lift... who I recognized... a known ex-con and brutal re-offender... it was close as he tried to walk out in front of me enough to get my attention to slow down to pick him up. As I gestured "What the heck" ...he looked at me with shrugged shoulders as I passed by with a wide avoiding swerve. The image gripped my mind, to think of how many others this man would try to stop in order to get a ride in the pouring rain.
You see I know this man and the crimes for which he was imprisoned, and why he received such brutal treatment while incarcerated... without saying too much, he was brutalized to a point near death... and had to get surgery among other things.
His family has disowned him, his friends have forsaken him...
...and there he was walking in the rain...
...very insanely alone.
For those who read my rants and raves, I come off as a judgmental sort, a bit whacked... and a red-necked hillbilly... it is an image I have worked hard and long to preserve, but for those who know me, I mean really know me... there is no way in hell I am about to let some "dog" stay out in the freezing cold... some dog like me. I though long as I drove my kid to his friends place, long enough to know I needed to go back and pick this guy up and take him to anywhere he wanted to go. Why? because it is a cold and lonely world out there... everyone needs hope... everyone needs a friend... everyone needs a ride when they are walking in the rain!
When I think of the religious right, compassion doesn't come to mind. Actually compassion doesn't come to mind when I think of the liberal left either... Most of us live our lives sheltered from the domestic tragedies and evils that surround us, and want to keep it that way. But what is going on to bridge the distance from evil to good, from wrong to right, from despair to hope? Will it be me? Will that bridge be you? It is not good enough to know the truth, it is a bit harder to live it. I have said that "The truth need not be defended, it need only be lived" ...sounds good but will it start with me?
WHAT is the alternative? What stops someone without hope to just randomly wander through life and kill people... or anything else? NOTHING! IF we have no hope we have no purpose... but who will risk being the one to offer hope to the hopeless, who will risk the danger or much less the reputation? Jesus did. He was counted as a whore-monger and thief, drunkard and sinner... though He never diminished His stand on truth... those who knew Him knew that they were loved. I want to be like that.
My wife and I are in the process of adopting a child who is being taken from it's mother... we have raised 5 kids and thought our "raising days" were over... as fate would have it we get to share our blessings with the fatherless and homeless. I know of some on this site that do just that. From caring for the aged or disabled to being single parents... there are some great examples of humanity... yet we reserve the right to fight like cats and dogs! The bottom line is regardless of our opinions...
...it is our walk not our talk... that speaks the loudest.
It is a long road to redemption for some... let's all make it a little easier.
P.S. The picture is that of a MS Gang Member... my friend in Guatemala was from a gang like this... from hit-man to serving Jesus... trust me, we all would rather have him serving Jesus than serving the gang... someone gave him that chance.