Last night I was blasting through the TV channels here at the hotel trying to find something of interest to watch. I stumbled upon a reality TV show playing the surveillance video from a convenience store where a bat-wielding thief came toward the man at the cashier demanding money and threatening to kill him.
The cashier reached down and pulled up a double barrel shotgun aimed directly at the thief, who immediately dropped the bat, dropped to his knees, and began pleading for his life. The would-be thief said he just needed food.
Astonishingly, the cashier, shotgun in hand, took $40 out of the cash register, got a gallon of milk and a box of cereal, plopped them on the counter and told the would-be thief he had better never see him again in his store. The would-be thief took the money, grabbed his bat, thanking the cashier many times, and fled.
I was rather astounded by this: One human being whose life was being threatened as he was being robbed, and instead of blowing the thief to bits, in kindness, gives him money and allows him to leave without calling the police.
I was reminded of my father who, back when I was a teenager, gave two men $10 when they asked him for $1 while standing on the sidewalk at an outdoor shopping center. I was so aggravated with my father, because we always had to be so frugal to live simply. I challenged him, saying that he had just wasted that money because the men were just going to go buy booze at one of the two liquor stores a few blocks away.
Without any hesitation, my father simply replied, "But, maybe not." That was enough for my father, who was always a kind-hearted soul.
My sister understands that space that occupied my father's heart more than I do. She came to visit me in Atlanta about 10 years ago. I'd grown accustomed to the homeless problem in that city, the beggars that litter the streets panhandling. My sister, from a much smaller community, came upon someone begging at the stop light. She lowered the car window and gave the man some money.
I was appalled. As we drove off, I challenged her, saying he was just going to buy drugs or alcohol with that money. She was quick to reply, "Even so, maybe that's all it will take to get him through today."
I have grown more sympathetic and understanding as I've aged. I've shed much of the insensitivity that is the judgmental hatefulness of the extremist rightwing religious agenda. I'm not sure I will ever reach the point of compassionate understanding in my heart that my sister has and father practiced.
Yesterday, some poor man who was out collecting for the Salvation Army was killed by two attackers who wanted the money people had given. Face to face charity is still a challenge to me.
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