Prayer

A few days ago, a man walked up to me on campus. He couldn’t have been much older than I, black, clean but clearly not well off. He made eye contact with me from far away, and made sure to get my attention with a smile and a wave. He came up and introduced himself politely but quickly. He explained to me that he lived in the shelter down the street, did I know where it was? No? Well, it’s down the street aways. He’s trying to get himself back on his feet, he’s trying to get a job but needed to get to Henderson to talk to somebody about it. He didn’t go into extreme detail, but what he said sounded somewhat reasonable. Anyway, Triangle Transit Authority didn’t run down there, and he’s trying to get down there. I explained I would love to help him but don’t have a car. He really needed to get down there he said, and would be willing to pay someone to help him but didn’t have any money. I was clearly aware of the lonely dollar bill in my wallet, but I knew it’s never a good idea to pull out your wallet near a person asking for money.

He talked to me a bit more, and I began to kind of like him a bit. He said he liked my hat, that it matches some boots he has. I decided that he could probably use the one dollar I had on me more than I could, so taking a small step back and keeping an eye on all his movements, I took my wallet out and handed him my dollar, quickly putting my wallet back in my pocket. He didn’t do anything shady (other than ask for money in the first place), but it was protocol. He seemed a little disappointed with the sum, but thankful all the same. I gave him a firm hand shake, looked him in the eye, and told him how glad I was that he’s getting back on his feet, and that I was proud of him. He reacted a little strangely to my gesture; he either was lying about his story and felt some guilt, or had never been shown that kind of humanity. Either way it doesn’t change the end result, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume the latter.

I don’t know who this man was or whether he was lying or not. I don’t know if a dollar actually helped him get what he was looking for or not. A fellow human outstretched a hand to me in what I decided was genuine need. This is the best I can do to pray – do my best to help people and spread as much love as I can. This may not seem like prayer to most, but I personally find it more spiritually gratifying than reciting words in my head or out loud to an ambiguous deity.

The next day I was at Qdoba with Charlene when I saw the man walk by the window. He looked in at me, smiled, and waved.

Amen.