My second day in LA was the busiest. I got out of my training sessions later than scheduled, and the bus back to the hotel seemed to take forever (they were filming a commercial that seemed to cause the legendary traffic to be worse than normal).
I finally made it to the hotel, changed clothes, and headed out for noodles and rice. I grabbed a copy a booklet on the Divine Mercy and stuck it in my back pocket. The cathedral wasn't too far from my hotel, and I thought I might hike over after dinner.
I ate my noodles and headed out into the street, suddenly realizing that I was far too tired to try the cathedral hike (about a mile and a half from where I was at just then). I decided to head back to the hotel and crash early.
On the way back, I stopped at a light and waited for the crossing sign to change. A very small oriental woman tapped me on the elbow.
"Are you a minister of God," she asked.
"Me? No, I'm not. Why do you ask?"
"The Divine Mercy book in your pocket. I saw it and thought you might be a preacher."
"Oh, I forgot all about that. Sorry. I'm not a minister." I took the booklet out of my pocket and gave it to her. "Here, you can have it. I have a couple more at home. If you're interested in reading it, you can have it."
"Oh, thank you, but it cost $4." I waved off the cost, not thinking what four bucks might mean in her world. "How can I stay in touch with you?" The question kinda threw me off. Stay in touch with me?
"I'm not from around here. I'm from Dallas, so staying in touch with me won't do you much good."
"Oh, I see. Are you hear to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ," she continued as she followed me across the street.
I should say at this point that the lady was obviously homeless. She wore a sweater inside-out on a warm day and looked a bit dirty. About this time I noticed that some of her teeth were blackened.
"No, I'm not." I thought she meant to ask again whether or not I was a minister of some kind. "I'm just here on business for a couple of days. I'm from Dallas..."
"But how can I stay in touch with you?"
"I'm from Dallas. You can't really stay in touch with me." I admit I was getting a bit edgy at this point. We were approaching my hotel. The last thing I needed was a homeless woman, with what appeared to be some mental health issues, hanging around my hotel each evening waiting for a chat.
The rest of the conversation was rather brief. Within just a few moments she was gone in the crowd, taking the Divine Mercy booklet with her. I never saw her again.
She never asked me for money, though I would have given her everything I had. But I didn't give her the one thing she did ask for indirectly - time. After thinking about it for a while, I came to understand why she appeared there.
If I am very honest with myself, I have to admit that I take a certain pride in my treatment of the homeless. I give whatever I have in my pocket. I don't complain. I don't run around telling others what I've done. It was my pride that undid me this time. If she'd asked me for money, I would have given happily and thought well of myself in doing so. But she came at me from an angle and I was completely unprepared. She was lonely. She only wanted someone to talk to. And I left her as alone as I found her.
I have to admit that she frightened me a bit. Homeless people do that to many of us...c'mon, admit it. It's the "there but for the grace of God go I" factor. If we talk to them, it might rub off. But then I ask myself later, what was the theme of John Paul II's first address to the world after being raised to the papacy? BE NOT AFRAID!
I didn't go to LA to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I don't consider myself a minister or a preacher of any kind. The trick is, I didn't go there as a minister or a preacher. But that was my plan, not God's. When given the perfect opportunity to proclaim the gospel and actually live it, I ran to the comfort of my luxury hotel just as fast as my little feet would carry me.
People appear in my life like this from time to time. I don't need to go to others to evangelize, God sends them to me. There's always a reason, if I can but see. I turned my back on this lonely woman. I walked away. God gave me the opportunity to just talk, and I passed. It wasn't convenient to me at the time. Or, just maybe, God put her in my path to write this post, so that you might read it and take the opportunity to live the Gospel that I turned away from. BE NOT AFRAID!
"Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me."
