humanity.

One night last week I met a homeless guy waiting at a tram stop.
He started to talk with me, and although it was night and I was alone, I didn’t have any kind of fear or hesitation to begin speaking with him, despite of course the language barrier.
So we ended up getting on the same tram and sitting next to each other and speaking for awhile. But it was interesting, because as soon as there were other people around who became aware of my situation I started to feel uncomfortable.
It was obvious this man was homeless, a bit drunk, and hadn’t showered for days, but I wasn’t so concerned about these things until I was put on display in front of others.
I knew they were watching us, and I knew they were thinking how strange it was for me, this ‘normal, nice looking, young girl’ to be talking to this drunk, smelly, homeless man.

But afterward I was embarrassed at myself for being embarrassed about talking with him.
I was ashamed that I allowed these people to change the way I felt about the situation. Although I was glad that I was able to speak with him for the 20 minutes we were traveling in the same direction.

And then today, I don’t know maybe a week later, I walked into this shopping center, and there he was, with his wife, and one of my friends.
It was crazy, because I was of course glad to see my friend, and surprised to see him again. I began to pick up on what was happening, and actually this man, Vasek, had met my friend earlier.
My friend was leading a bible study at our church, and Vasek and his wife knocked on the door seeking help. My friend then took them to the shop to buy some groceries and to pick up some first aid supplies because the homeless couple had been beaten up pretty badly.

Anyway, it was a really crazy situation and experience. The truth is, I didn’t even really need anything at the store, I just had the feeling like I should stop by on the way home, so I did.

And it was crazy also because of course Vasek and his wife were so overly thankful and overjoyed and humbled, and my friend was explaining to them that of course he wanted to help… and then he was telling them that they are people, just like him and me.

And this was something they couldn’t believe, or comprehend.
They aren’t treated like people by anyone else in society.
People walk right around them, don’t acknowledge them, and definitely don’t help them.

I was just standing there thinking, if only we, as humanity, could see each other as who we really are.

Like if we could see everyone around us as people, created by and for God, what a different life and perspective we would have.