Gordon Gekko or Mother Theresa? – Since I have started writing for What Are You Passionate About? I have seldom if ever written about what I am NOT passionate about. I have generally not been very passionate about helping people who are less fortunate than me. Historically, I have not been the most empathetic person. My personality is more similar to Gordon Gekko’s than Mother Theresa’s. Lately though, I have been more and more convicted by the fact that I don’t do much for the poor.
Perhaps like you it has been easy for me to justify my attitude. As I drive by the local “will work for food” guy, I think to myself, “The guy is probably scamming! He looks able-bodied to me.” I have often rationalized that a lot of these people seem to bring their problems on themselves. After all, I don’t want to give a guy $10 that he is probably going to turn around and spend at the liquor store. Heck, even the bible, a virtual Idiot’s Guide to Empathy, says that the poor will always be among us. So what is the point in trying to help a guy who probably caused his own troubles, who may be scamming me, and is probably going to turn the cash into a “high” of one type or another?
Lately, a little voice inside my head has been giving me a recurring nudge. As time went on, the nudge got more vigorous. It is hard to concentrate on work or even my golf swing when that small quiet voice has a megaphone telling me how self-centered I am. Like a lot of you, I have read, that the “second most important thing” I can do is to love my neighbors as I love myself.
This week I volunteered to help an organization called Filling the Void (FTV) for the first time. FTV is a nonprofit organization that feeds homeless people every Wed. at noon in downtown Tulsa. I have to say that it was an interesting and humbling experience. Most of the people seeking our sack lunches were very different from the crowds that I run in. Their clothes didn’t match and they were usually dirty. They smelled…. well…… bad! Many wore crude bandages. Several stared into space as if focused on nothing in particular or something that none of the rest of us could see. Oddly, some weren’t that different from me. Some were pudgy middle-aged guys that although looking a bit disheveled could just as easily been accountants.
Jesus said, “I tell you the solemn truth, whenever you did one of these things to someone who was overlooked or ignored, that was me – you did it to me. Then he will turn to the goats, the ones on his left and say, Get out worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because I was hungry and you gave me no meal. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was homeless and you gave me no bed. I was shivering and you gave me no clothes. Sick and in prison, and you never visited.”
Something odd happened to me this week. I suddenly wanted to help these people – even those that might be scamming us or may have used their own food money on something to catch a buzz. And I have to tell you. My newfound charity wasn’t only because I thought Jesus might be masquerading as one of these smelly street people. Although when the guy in the ragged, dirty Sooner t-shirt winked at me, it made me wonder……
I think sometimes our passions may change over time. Sometimes, as in my case, the change may occur later than it should have.
What are you passionate about? What are you doing about it?
Perhaps like you it has been easy for me to justify my attitude. As I drive by the local “will work for food” guy, I think to myself, “The guy is probably scamming! He looks able-bodied to me.” I have often rationalized that a lot of these people seem to bring their problems on themselves. After all, I don’t want to give a guy $10 that he is probably going to turn around and spend at the liquor store. Heck, even the bible, a virtual Idiot’s Guide to Empathy, says that the poor will always be among us. So what is the point in trying to help a guy who probably caused his own troubles, who may be scamming me, and is probably going to turn the cash into a “high” of one type or another?
Lately, a little voice inside my head has been giving me a recurring nudge. As time went on, the nudge got more vigorous. It is hard to concentrate on work or even my golf swing when that small quiet voice has a megaphone telling me how self-centered I am. Like a lot of you, I have read, that the “second most important thing” I can do is to love my neighbors as I love myself.
This week I volunteered to help an organization called Filling the Void (FTV) for the first time. FTV is a nonprofit organization that feeds homeless people every Wed. at noon in downtown Tulsa. I have to say that it was an interesting and humbling experience. Most of the people seeking our sack lunches were very different from the crowds that I run in. Their clothes didn’t match and they were usually dirty. They smelled…. well…… bad! Many wore crude bandages. Several stared into space as if focused on nothing in particular or something that none of the rest of us could see. Oddly, some weren’t that different from me. Some were pudgy middle-aged guys that although looking a bit disheveled could just as easily been accountants.
Jesus said, “I tell you the solemn truth, whenever you did one of these things to someone who was overlooked or ignored, that was me – you did it to me. Then he will turn to the goats, the ones on his left and say, Get out worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because I was hungry and you gave me no meal. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was homeless and you gave me no bed. I was shivering and you gave me no clothes. Sick and in prison, and you never visited.”
Something odd happened to me this week. I suddenly wanted to help these people – even those that might be scamming us or may have used their own food money on something to catch a buzz. And I have to tell you. My newfound charity wasn’t only because I thought Jesus might be masquerading as one of these smelly street people. Although when the guy in the ragged, dirty Sooner t-shirt winked at me, it made me wonder……
I think sometimes our passions may change over time. Sometimes, as in my case, the change may occur later than it should have.
What are you passionate about? What are you doing about it?
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