Beggars

 Last night during German Night, my table mates and I got into a discussion on beggars. What got us started was seeing a beggar in Passau with a red Viking umbrella. Either he found the umbrella and took it or a cruiser very generously gave away something that wasn’t theirs to give. (Viking provides large, red golf umbrellas to passengers on rainy days.)

 

One of my table mates shared the story of how he had been scammed at a subway station. After that, he became wary of beggars. 

 

Another table mate shared the story of how she and her son once bought a homeless man a meal but all he took was the coffee. 

 

My aunt shared the story of how she provided a homeless Veteran with a meal coupon and the money to buy the meal. He was proud to be able to walk into the restaurant and pay for his meal. 

 

I listened.

 

Then I must have gotten distracted because the next thing I knew, table mate two was saying, “I don’t care if they use the money to buy wine. If wine is what is going to keep them warm and help them make it through life on the streets, then so be it. Who am I to judge what they do with the money?”

 

I could tell that table mate one was not impressed with this answer, so he shared a story of a time when he thought he wasn’t scammed—when he saw a teenage girl at the grocery store begging for her parents who were sitting in a beat up car.

 

His wife then piped in and said that one of her friends keeps water and granola bars in her car so that whenever she encounters a beggar, she has something to give. 

 

This is such a tough subject. Do we give money? Do we give food? Do we give both? And how much? 

 

Do we make eye contact? Do we look the other way? Do we speak? Do we ignore?

 

Do we trust that the person really needs the help? Do we look with skepticism from all the stories we’ve heard? Do we think that a person’s situation is based on their choices? Do we take into account addiction and mental illness?

 

Table mate two said we should do as Jesus would do. Table mate one said that Jesus knew people’s hearts and who was and was not worthy. 

 

So we finally all agreed that everyone must do what they feel is right…and then we ate our German desserts. 

 

God. Help us to know what is good and right—how to be good stewards of our resources—how to act in the ways you would act—how to best reach people with your love…especially those who need you most. Amen.