Today, I encountered a man I did not understand. He wore rags, that were tattered and stained from years beyond their intended materialistic value. With a combination of foreign odors ringing from his clothes, I felt uncomfortable. He began to talk to him self out loud, and then proceeded to cut off people in their conversations. Speaking his words in a struggle, to find the right way to pronounce what he intended to say. I suddenly felt unsafe at this encounter, because it was beyond what I could bare, it was beyond what I had experienced, therefore I could not relate. I sat in a chair of Judgement because I failed to embrace the vulnerability of not being able to control, or predict the situation, and with that came the feeling of being threatened, so I stood on guard.
This man began to speak, forming words that brought with them a powerful declaration of what this world has become. At first I heard only what society would speak; that this man was strange, that his words made no sense, that his scent was defining, that his face was different, that his clothes were an embarrassment, that the scares that lay upon his hands were un-nerving. Fear held me back from seeing the truth.
I began to pray within my heart, in an attempt to distract myself from the chimes of what I have heard countless times from myself, and others in this society. That this man was a label of wreckage, of hopelessness beyond repair.
Suddenly my ears opened as I heard him shout praises to “The Lord”
Shame washed over me, as I realize this man, is my brother in Christ. I had been sitting with my back every so slightly turned away, trying to build a barrier between us. In that moment I let my back relax, I turned towards him as he was speaking, and I looked into the face of a courageous man, with bold eyes that pierced through my heart. Though he looked different by his clothing, he was welcoming, and encouraging in his mixed speech, he opened his heart to complete strangers, and I was so willing to slap down his hand, when all he desired was to have someone to hear what his heart had held for years on end. Where rejection and abandonment has followed, he came looking for acceptance and I was so ready to turn my back on my fellow out of fear. No one deserves to be treated in such a way, we are all equal – no matter which road life take us, we all deserve the same amount of love, and respect – for we are all Family.
I see what God has been trying to teach me. And the realization of my arrogance is over whelming.
I woke up this morning, praying to be humbled, to be brought down from my own varying opinions of how the world should be, and God pulled through for me, as he always does.
I was able to look in the eye of a Stranger, and see my Brother.
I was able to see that I was no different than him, if anything, in that moment of my self-righteousness, he should have slapped my hand down…
Its amazing the lessons God teaches, when One is ready to Learn. God gave me a nice big piece of Humble Pie, yes – I am the “New Guy” and I have the entire road ahead to continue learning!
This one defiantly hit the Heart big time.
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Matthew 25: 35-36
For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was Sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me. “
Matthew 25: 40
And the King will say, “I tell you the Truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to Me!”
melstewart 