Today I met Rich, a homeless man who is definitely not rich.
He does receive a small pension from his career working on the power grid as a crane operator. After I quit the software biz, I climbed utility poles for a year, because that’s definitely no desk job, so we talked.
His bike just got stolen, and a woman spit on him yesterday. He smiles when we talk about Jesus, and he knows why he was wrong to spit back at that woman who did a terrible thing.
He’s difficult to understand, and somewhat drunk. He asks,
“What can I do?”
We had crossed paths earlier that morning. I was typing this sort of thing on my phone, and as he passed to sit down on a bench, he accused me of stealing my own bike which was nearby. I’m pretty sure he wanted to fight about it, too.
Keep in mind that I’m obviously homeless, towing around gear.
I smiled and wished him a good morning, and God bless.
Later, I saw him in the public library. Most people in that library are homeless, charging their phones, using the computers – and reading books! He put a dollar bill in the donation box for the library. Nobody saw but me.
Then I saw him give the library security guards a couple cheeseburgers for lunch, which they received with gratitude.
Rich wants to know if he’s a bad person, and I tell him that without Jesus we’re all bad.
He nods. He understands. I tell him that we’re all Job, and this world is a proving ground. He nods again and takes a bite of his cheeseburger.
He would rather talk about my guitar.
So we talk about Willie, and we talk about Waylon. We talk about ZZ Top, because of my beard.
He wants to know how to grow a beard like mine, so I give him some diet and exercise advice.
We pause, then he tells me everyone has their own philosophy about the Bible. I tell him that philosophy is the reason so many people are wrong about Jesus, but he was really just trying to dismiss the nagging truth I told him about himself and Jesus.
He wants to talk about the women walking by. I know we’ll meet again, so we part ways in peace.
Yesterday, I saw Rich at the library looking sad. When I greeted him, I received a grunt, and then he turned away with a scowl.
Not the right time to talk.