As I was hurrying to get to the center of town I tried to flag down a
taxi as I walked out of our apartment complex. He didn’t see me, but
someone else did!
He was bent over several bags of garbage. His sandpaper hands,
with black lines running up and down his fingers, the cracks filled with dirt that
had accumulated as he rummaged through the garbage, looking for his next meal
or at least a snack. He stood up straight and began calling after the taxi.
What he did next caused me to stop walking down the hill.
He left his “food” behind, ran down the hill, around the corner and out
of sight. Was he doing what I thought he was?
Soon he came around the corner again and flashed a toothless grin that
softened his otherwise hard and somber face. "Your taxi is waiting
around the corner! I will walk with you.”
As we approached the waiting taxi his hand that was just looking
for food in a garbage bag opened the taxi door allowing me to enter. I reached in my pocket for the coins I always have when I leave
home and placed a couple into his hand.
I was reminded that while we may only see a homeless person making
a mess of the garbage on the street corners, God sees a person who still has
a heart that longs to help others and be of service.
