Taking Risks

This week I had the joy of being able to give three supermarket gift cards away. The only stipulation I was given was that the cards be offered to someone with children who was struggling financially. Most of the folks I see are not currently living with their children; if a person is living on the street, their children are either with relatives or in foster homes. Still, I was able to think of three folks who were working really hard to take care of their children.

I met with each of these three folks, good people facing some really hard times. Each was thrilled to be given this gift that was donated by the very generous Honickman family and made available to me through Sister Mary Scullion of Project H.O.M.E. I was happy these families would have the thrill of doing something for their children.

Yesterday I learned that one of the recipients sold their card. I felt betrayed and even a little angry; but riding home in the car I was reminded that maybe the card was sold for something else that was needed more immediately. As far as I knew, this person did not have any addictons; but he did have a serious illness.

At any rate, this made me think of something Elie Wiesel, said one time when I had heard him speak at a college commencement. Someone asked Mr. Wiesel, Holocaust survivor and writer, what he did when people on the street asked him for money. He said that he struggled with this as much as anyone, but that he often ended up giving something. When the student said, "What if the person used the money for drugs or alcohol?" Elie Wiesel looked at him and said, "I think when I get to heave and stand face to face with my Creator the question won't be what the person did with the money I gave him; rather, I believe the almighty will ask, 'How did you respond to a person who asked you for help?'"

I know that in three years since I began The Welcome Center ther were times when folks were not completely honest with me. But trust takes time, addictions are powerful, and when faced with life threatening situations, we often do whatever it takes to survive. So ther are some risks in doing the work that I do. But to me, the bigger risk is not responding to a person who is suffering. Because when one person hurts, we all hurt.