Under the Overpass - D.C.
Mike and Sam spent 28 days in D.C. (July 1 -28, 2003). Being a resident of the city, this section hits close to home.
"Begging is hard. It's something you expect hungry dogs to do, but not men and women made in God's image. The minute you put out your hand, or open your guitar case, it feels like you're writing 'failure' and 'weakness' all over yourself. You're telling everyone who walks by, 'I am unable.' The message blares up and down the sidewalk, and acroos multiple lanes of traffic. And the message doesn't stop screaming until you pull back your hand, or close up your case" (61).
*I'm not sure I've ever thought about the "hard work" of begging. In fact, when I see someone begging, I often think about how they need to work, to get a paying job and get off the street. I (maybe we?) read "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" (2 Thess. 3.10), and we hide behind those words, shielding ourselves from reaching out. We forget Paul's other words, " Admonish the idle/undisciplined, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See tha tno one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone." Word.
"In his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning writes, 'We are all equally privileged but unentitled beggars at the door of God's mercy'"(62).
"A hungry man can be a fast learner. When you come to a table with nothing but need, yo uare grateful for things you might have pushed aside before. And when you kneel, hungry and broken at His table, you receive a grace from Him you might, at some other time, have completely missed" (71).
*How many times have I missed His grace? How often has He resisted my proud heart/attitude? God giving grace to the humble is a thread woven through all of Scripture. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst...
"Begging is hard. It's something you expect hungry dogs to do, but not men and women made in God's image. The minute you put out your hand, or open your guitar case, it feels like you're writing 'failure' and 'weakness' all over yourself. You're telling everyone who walks by, 'I am unable.' The message blares up and down the sidewalk, and acroos multiple lanes of traffic. And the message doesn't stop screaming until you pull back your hand, or close up your case" (61).
*I'm not sure I've ever thought about the "hard work" of begging. In fact, when I see someone begging, I often think about how they need to work, to get a paying job and get off the street. I (maybe we?) read "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat" (2 Thess. 3.10), and we hide behind those words, shielding ourselves from reaching out. We forget Paul's other words, " Admonish the idle/undisciplined, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See tha tno one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone." Word.
"In his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel, Brennan Manning writes, 'We are all equally privileged but unentitled beggars at the door of God's mercy'"(62).
"A hungry man can be a fast learner. When you come to a table with nothing but need, yo uare grateful for things you might have pushed aside before. And when you kneel, hungry and broken at His table, you receive a grace from Him you might, at some other time, have completely missed" (71).
*How many times have I missed His grace? How often has He resisted my proud heart/attitude? God giving grace to the humble is a thread woven through all of Scripture. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst...
posted by Dave Jones | 6:58 AM
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