Shadows

I caught a glimpse in the longing eyes of a stranger. It was the gentleness in the heavy gaze that I felt locked on me as I hurriedly passed him by on my own determined mission. With shabby shoes and long worn out clothes, the man looked hard worn himself, but he had a peaceful calmness about him that conflicted with my immediate first impression... 

He could have been a man once caught in a whirlwind by life's unending challenge. He might have once been someone just like me, but instead of fighting to get up just one more time, was too beaten down, weak and tired to fight his way forward yet again and gave up the fight when life once again rolled him over. Maybe it was a loss - a love, a spouse, a child, a friend or even brother that brought him down one last time. I couldn't know. Or maybe it was the decaying culminations of an addiction that started from a simple but desperate need just to cope in his daily struggles - just a little help, trying to get by. It might have been a path that I myself might have taken if circumstances differed slightly and for me, "There but for the grace of God go I"..

He could have been a father with children who still need him, a husband with a heart-broken wife who loved him, or perhaps if life had taken a different turn, even once my own child. He could have been many things, and the battles waged against him I couldn't possibly know in a fleeting glance. But whatever he may once have been or still clung onto hope to be, there was now in this moment something strongly in his eyes that prevented me from holding his following gaze. I looked away as suddenly as I first saw him and walked on pretending not to notice,... with the rising sting of shame too strong to look into his eyes again as tears fought to rise to surface of my own. Once again and whatever this man's case, I saw gentle eyes beyond his own when for a second mine met his, and I then began to hear again those heavy words recalled from memory...

"I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me."    Matthew 25:45 (NLT)

Moments like these leave a refining mark from The Sculptor's hand on a disciple of Christ and a possible future burden to bear on those left untouched and remaining without repentance. There's only one who can see into the hearts of men, rightly knowing and judging their case. Perhaps He's already granted them the same forgiveness that we ourselves through Christ have received for our own failures to His standards. Perhaps their maturity in Christ is far beyond our own, or perhaps our faithful interaction with them was the instrument of light that the Lord intended to use to get their attention while they wait in the shadows. Whatever the case, our calling to follow Christ beckons and our actions in response speak far louder than what our mouths might say. I pray the Lord doesn't find some unrighteous judgment or prejudice hiding in the shadows of my own heart, or hardness in it's darkest corners, because I also was once like a beggar in need of His mercy...

                                              Compassion

                                                   Mercy

                                                   Grace

                                              Forgiveness

“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?  When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’"    Matthew 25:37-40 (NLT)

The implications are not lost on my own heart.

"No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."    Micah 6:8 (NLT)