Would You Pick Up Jesus or Buddha Walking Down the Street?
April 21st 2010 21:34
Would you pick up Buddha or Jesus walking down the street? I would like to believe I would act appropriately; I’m not always sure. Sunday night I received an opportunity to act on faith.
One of my favorite stories from church school is about Jesus being invited to a prominent community member’s house for dinner. The community leader is very proud to have Jesus, the new celebrity over to his home. Time for dinner arrives; the best of everything is prepared for the special guest. Someone arrives at the door, although when the door is opened it’s not Jesus it’s an older woman. Go away she is told a very important person is coming. A person knocks at the door a second time this time it is an unkempt old man. He too is shooed away. Lastly, a bum shows up at the door. Again this person is told to get lost and the host impatiently awaits Jesus. The next day the host said to Jesus why didn’t you show up for dinner last night? Jesus said I did and you turned me away three times. I never forgot this story. When I see a stranger on the street, a homeless person that smells or an erratic mentally ill person, I try to think of them as a spiritual leader.
Sunday night my head hit the pillow around 11:15pm when my better half sprang up and remembered a friend’s cat did not get feed. Our friends were out of town at a family reunion and returning the next day. It was our responsibility to feed their cat, Jackson. The fiendish feline would probably wildly attack his returning unsuspecting owners with ravenous growls if he had to go a day without nourishment. Long story short, we headed out of bed and pajamas and into cloths and the car to go fed Jackson. After a short ride and an open can, Jackson was fed. All was at peace with the world.
Close to midnight we pulled up to an intersection, an older woman with shoulder lengthen gray hair caught my attention as she walked along the street. She was casually dressed with a thin body type shuffling as she walked. She seemed like a fish out of water; the late night surroundings did not fit. Scuffling to a closed Shakey’s door, she gave a tug then turned toward the streetlight. A centrical force pulled my attention to her, I was watching her every move. My spouse noticed my interest and asked if there was a problem. I expressed the woman did not fit the nightly surroundings maybe she needed help. We turned around to approach the stranger as she slowly headed up the isolated street.
“Hey lady you ok?” I said gruffly in case I was approaching a possible danger.
“What?” she said softly in a sweet voice as she turned toward the car.
Softened, I replied, “Are you ok?”
Sweetly this kind lady explained she missed her bus connection. At 70 years old Barbie volunteers to drive senior citizens to appointments. This particular day Barbie traveled 20 miles to drive a veteran. Miscalculating her return trip left her on the street without the proper bus connection to get home. It was not a coincidence that Barbie’s home was exactly the direction we were headed. She jumped in and off we went. She thanked us profusely and told us she did not want to call her daughter, she would be mad. Also she said she was not afraid which she knew was dangerous. Barbie was a delight and a wonderful example of a humanitarian. As she exited the car, she asked me for a hug.
“I need a hug,” she said. I think I needed one too. I was overwhelmed with the power of the universe. The power that arose us out of our bed near midnight to seemingly feed Jackson so we could drive home 70 year old Barbie, the volunteer. I would like to believe I’d help Jesus or Buddha disguised as a 70 year old woman or a stinky homeless man. It really does not matter. What does matter is that I continue to think of others as if they were Jesus or Buddha.
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