Before I begin I just want to say that for a couple of reasons I was reluctant to write this. One reason is that I feel when ever someone does something for someone else it shouldn’t be glorified if it’s the right thing to do, but it’s what happened at the end is why I needed to say it.
All in all I’m a pretty simple man. I don’t wear flashy clothes (my wardrobe is pretty much cargo shorts and t-shirts year round), and I’ll sooner try and fix something that breaks before replacing it with something new. But every now and again I want, what I refer to as, a bourgeois coffee. You know what I’m talking about. Just about anything on the Starbucks menu, regardless if it’s cold or hot it’s covered with foam, whip cream, and caramel! Today was one of those days. So I put a little money to the side ($15) and figured I’d grab something in Penn Station this morning while waiting for my train. Weaving through the crowds at this seemingly perpetually filled station, I finally arrived at the Starbucks that I usually go to (there are 3 in Penn Station) for my indulgence in excess. But for some reason as I got to the door I stopped. I suddenly didn’t want the coffee. Within a minute of me standing there a man, probably not much older than me, walks up and in an almost whisper asks if I have any change. I reach into my pocket and pull out the five dollar bill and hand it to him. Appearing a little stunned, I can only assume he was literally expecting change…or nothing at all. We spoke for a moment, he said thank you I said God bless and he was off. A few minutes go by and I’m still debating in my head about going in, I mean I can still get the bourgeois coffee just no lemon cake (as you can see I’ve done this before) when an older man walks up to me. At initial glance, the clothes and facial tattoos made me expect a confrontation. Yes I was being judgmental, but sometimes it’s safer to air on the side of caution. Then in a soft spoken, almost apologetic manner he said that if I could give him just a moment he’d be out of my way, and then asked if I “had just 4 quarters”. I said ,”I’ll tell you what buddy I don’t have any change, but I’ll give you this” as I handed him a folded ten dollar bill. His look went from disappointment to confusion. After looking up and down at his hand a few times he whispered ,”you made a mistake it’s ten dollars”. I told him,”it’s not a mistake, it all I have left.” Then simply said, “God bless”.
The next few moments are why I’m writings this down. It was both heartbreaking and heart lifting at the same time.
As he reached out his hand to say thank you, without a thought I shook his hand a gave him the “guy hug”. He looked at me and said “who are you? This was great” motioning to the money ,” but you hugged me…most people wouldn’t hug me”. I said, “we’re all just people right? Sometimes people just forget.” He stood there for a moment not sure what to say so I told him to go outside and soak up this unusually nice January day and God bless. As I walked away, my train platform was announced, heading down the stairs to my train the scripture quote “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me” (Mathew25:40) was running through my head. And the reality is it wasn’t about the money. Although I’m sure they both appreciated it, it was the conversation. It was the simple human contact and being treated like everyone else. I think that’s what we forget sometimes. Let’s face it we all start the same, and we all will face the same judgment in the end, and even though everything that happens in between may be different, we are all the same in God’s eyes. As soon we can learn to see each other through His eyes and not the ones we’ve created the world will be a better place. Now that I think about it, that was one of the best bourgeois coffee I ever had.
As much as I want people to remember, I am almost uneasy telling this because the unfortunate reality is there are a lot of bad people who try to prey on the goodwill of others. My size (5’10 250lbs) allows me the ability to put myself out there with less fear of something bad occurring. With that I still tend to air on the side of caution, just learning to do that without being judgmental. Alas we’re all just works in progress. Thanks for stopping by. Remember to live the Faith. God bless.
Faith like Water 