We served egg and cheese sandwiches, white rice and bananas for breakfast this morning.
During "seconds" the sandwiches ran out.
A 30-something man came through the line for "firsts" and we were down to rice and bananas.
I apologized, sad that this man would not get a sandwich, and told him we were just down to rice and bananas.
He smiled. A very kind smile.
And he said, "It's ok. Anything is better than nothing. Thank you."
I teared up.
I doubt my attitude would've been the same.
Because my attitude simply isn't the same.
I was annoyed last night because the sweet potatoes in my crockpot stew were not cooked by 10pm and I had to set my alarm for midnight to get up and turn them off. (gee, Leigh, really???)
That man was Jesus to me.
Scenario Two:
During seconds we ran out of egg sandwiches, as I said.
A man came up and shouted a question at me, angry.
I could not hear him because of the kitchen noise behind me and calmly asked him to repeat his question.
He angrily yelled again, wanting to know if the cook was going to make more sandwiches.
I smiled (in Proverbs we are told that a soft answer turns away wrath) and gently told him that the cook was not planning to make more sandwiches.
He was not happy about the lack of sandwiches for seconds but walked away much calmer than he arrived.
I got to be Jesus to him by not responding in anger to his anger but in choosing to show him gentleness and love instead.
Scenario Three:
One kitchen volunteer turned to another and commented on she was not adding forks to the plates quickly enough.
Kitchen volunteer number two reacted in sarcastic anger.
The battle was on and it was quite an odd battle.
One trying to "talk things out" (though in an angry tone) and the other looking at her with a smart look while singing worship songs at her.
They finally had to be separated by one of the recovering homeless people in the internship program.
Wow.
I'm pretty sure neither one of them was Jesus to the other.
And So:
It was an interesting morning at the homeless shelter.
I got to see Jesus over and over in the way people treated me.
I made choices several times to try and be Jesus to them.
And I got to see some people make the choice to not reflect Jesus.
A very interesting morning.
Life is about choices.
Who am I following?
What kind of person do I want to be?
How do I want to treat people?
These choices are the same whether we are on the street, getting off of the street or are a volunteer who has never had to live on the street.
So the question I find myself asking today is:
What kind of person do I want to be?
And what sort of lifestyle do I need to be living (or not living) to become that person?
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