(Disorganized) Thoughts from the City

I hate ignoring people on the streets. I absolutely hate it. I still do it, more times than not. But I hate it. Sometimes it's because I'm scared, but most of the time I'm just worried about what the people I'm with will think. I don't know why. All I know is that those people are people. Who am I to treat them as less than that? They've been shaped by the hand of the Almighty Creator, just like everyone else walking past. 

I know there's corruption in the world. I know there are situations that need discernment. But isn't that the same wherever we go? We might feel safer in a corporate office building, shopping mall, small-town corner store, or even our homes, but there's only so much we can do to keep ourselves "safe". Especially as a believer, I don't think we were called to live safe lives. Were not almost all the apostles martyred for their witness? Did Jesus not dine with the poor and unclean? Wisdom and discernment and common sense have their place, but they are not our King. Jesus is our King. He saved us. He's called us to share his good news with the world. If we can't exhibit his heart to the "very least" of the least of these, are we really seeking after him? Do we really love others like we love ourselves?

Every time I pass a homeless man or woman on the street, I always picture myself in their place. I can't know what it would feel like to be ignored by your fellow humans. Aren't we all just a phone call away from desolation? We feel so secure in our positions that we don't stop to consider that we're all just trying to make it. We all rise and fall. We always hear those inspirational stories about that guy who used to live on the streets, was radically changed, and now works as a dentist or something. But when we pass him on the street, he's just a smelly pothead. In our minds, at least. He's something to be feared. Maybe he is. But maybe there's more. Maybe. Who are we to make that judgement call? Who are we to decide that the ice underneath him is gonna break anyways, so it's not worth going out there to help him?  Perhaps a few bucks will just help him get wasted, or maybe it will feed him and keep him alive. Do we have the authority to assume? I'd rather be naive and kind, than skeptical and tight-fisted. 

I write this for people like me, who need to open their eyes and hearts. One definitely might argue for the necessity of discernment, and be absolutely correct. For where I'm at now, though, that would just give me an "out", a reason, an excuse, justification for walking on by. Once I've reached the point where my heart and hands are open, then I can start working on finding that balance. If nothing else, I can at least acknowledge people's existence, lend them a smile, have a conversation, treat them as a person. Because they just are.