This is His Reality

Because of where I work, I see a lot of homeless people. I see them as I walk to and from my car, and as I walk to get lunch. The other day on a particularly cold and snowy morning as I was getting out of my car, an old homeless man walked around the corner. He was wearing a neatly packed backpack which presumably contained his every Earthly possession. His thick beard was mostly gray and white so I assume he was at least in his late 40's. When my eyes met his for a brief moment there was a sense of this man's deep humility. I thought to myself as I followed him up the snowy street, "this is his reality."

It's easy to condemn these men and women with thoughts about the thoughtless and selfish choices we assume they have made and the consequences that have put them in this situation. The truth is that we don't know what got them there, and that it is not up to us to judge.

I can't pretend to know what they are going through, but I do know that it is bitterly cold and wet. I know a little of how alone one can feel in a crowd. I know that I struggle to fast for 24 hours. I know that it's got to feel strange to be destitute in the midst of so much prosperity and wealth.

I have been abundantly blessed in my life both temporally and in the more important spiritual and eternal matters. I often feel unworthy of these immense blessings, and I feel that a different choice or a mistake here or there would've put me in a much different place than I am today.