God Bless

My Great-Grandmother always demonstrated compassion for peddlers, panhandlers, hobos, transients- the homeless. There are those who say not give “them” money because it will be spent on drugs or alcohol. Others say that pleading for help, money or work while standing on the street corner with a cardboard sign is an elaborate con. My Great-Grandmother used to say; “That man could be Jesus. Jesus will return, no one knows when and no one knows what he might look like.” There is a man, wrinkled and tanned from constant exposure to the elements. His hair is matted without definitive color. There is no way to know if it’s dark and streaked with grey, or if it’s grey with defiant threads of dark. He doesn’t try to hide his face in shame. He looks at you, past you. No one makes eye contact with him, but his expression is humble. His clothes are faded, shapeless and layered. He holds a tattered sign made from the side of a box-it says; “Disabled Veteran, Anything Helps, God Bless.” This time, don’t look away. Look at him. Can you picture a younger version? Maybe he was among the drafted-torn from his mother’s arms and his high school sweet heart to become a soldier. After the war, the Veterans were spit upon, cursed and shunned out of controversy and confusion, but then what? Where did he go? What loss must he have suffered to be standing next to the intersection, holding his sign with cracked and bleeding hands? Could my Great Grandma be right? Could this really be the face of Christ? The man who suffered and died for our sins, weathered, neglected and hungry. I would respectfully disagree, but that might be hasty. It’s easy enough to see that Christ’s perfect love exists in the charity bestowed upon the disabled veteran. However, my Great Grandma, might have been asking me, all of us to look for Jesus, really look. Jesus said that with God, all things were possible, but HE didn’t heal every sick man, woman and child. HE didn’t sit next to all the thieves, nor did HE stand up for every immoral woman. I may not be able to work miracles as Christ did,and I can't end wars, world hunger or poverty, but I can bring a nourishing pot of soup to someone who is sick. I can embrace someone who is crying, empower someone who is frightened and offer a disabled veteran a warm coat and a full belly. We all can. We just need to be reminded that it only takes one person, doing one thing. So look, because Great Grandma was right. The manifestation of Christ’s love is there. He sits in the park, weak with his ailments, hunger and sorrow. Without the strength to stand, he holds a styrofoam cup he found in the garbage and meekly asks for spare change. He has nothing to give but says; “God Bless” for every penny he is given. You will never know when, or what it will look like but it’s there because HE has given it to you to give.