02/11/2025
Saw a guy on the street corner today.
I saw a guy on the street corner today. He was holding a sign that just said "Starving." I'm not going to debate the morality, psychology or theology of everything going on in this situation. I'm just the messenger here.
I live towards the edge of my town, away from busier highway sections and certainly a way's away from the center of town where many impoverished and homeless gather. To see someone holding a sign like that near me was a little surprising.
I don't usually carry cash, so all I did was nod towards him as I drove by.
Recently there was a super bowl party at my house. People made lots of food. I know most of it will get thrown away within a week or so given the sheer quantity, so I packed a few of those and some lemon squares I made in a bag. There were already protein bars that I took to work one day in this bag, so I left those in there too. I've somehow also been given a lot of winter hats lately, so I put one in there too.
I drove back to the corner where I'd seen him. He'd gone to the other side where a gas station was. He was traveling by skateboard. I don't blame him since there's not even a proper crosswalk with lights here - it's otherwise impossible to just walk across the street, given people turning on red lights and whatnot. My near-empty-tank-light came on in this drive home, so I pulled in and started getting gas. It turns out the guy already had a hat, so I took mine out of the bag. Selfishness, or saving it for another soul? Probably the former.
I walked across the lot and waved to him as I did. Whenever I stepped over the shrubs separating the gas station's lot from the sidewalk he was on, a guy called out towards us from his car in the road a few yards away: "you are a saint!" It sounded sincere, at least.
I continued just looking at the guy who was announcing his hunger in the below-freezing weather. "I put some chicken and lemon squares in here we made recently," I told him. "Thanks," he said. "God bless you." I reached out my hand to fist bump, we connect, and we walked away from each other.
Got back in my car and gawked at how cold it was outside, now that I was back by a heater. I felt a bit emotional from the whole thing. I was torn for a moment between going and staying at home and going back to give him something. The corner he's standing at is maybe a quarter mile away from my house. Maybe less.
If you've read any Dorothy Day or Flannery O'Connor, I hope you know the spirit in which I write this. Please take this away from this post: it doesn't take a lot to be a saint. Have you ever read the lives of some saints? Some of their biggest moments are simply giving coats or food to people.
It's so cold out there today. Please make sure to keep others around you warm. If they've offended you, if you're suspicious of them, if you yourself have had a bad day and feel wounded... don't go and make it colder.
Love all y'all who are reading this. Pax Christi sit semper tecum. :)
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