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The Petition of the Beggar

His hand outstretched
His heart as empty
As his pockets
And his stomach
And his eyes

You've seen him before
You've seen his brothers and sisters before, too
They stand with tattered cardboard signs
Anything helps, the signs read
Anything helps

God bless you.

There's a moment of indecision
You don't want to be an enabler
You don't want to subsidize this kind of lifestyle
Perhaps this man is a felon
Perhaps this man is just lazy and will not work, though he could

But then you look into your own heart
And you remember the time spent
On your knees
Asking for help to get through the day
To reach to God and serve Him
And to help others on their way
As you receive help moment to moment

So you reach into your pocket
Or search through the console in your car
For something you can offer
But the journey made in your heart is much more powerful
And you find it full to overflowing

And when you look back into the hand
And into the scraggly bearded face
You do not see what others see
You see a two thousand year old hand and face
A hand with scars
A face lined with care
And the weight of a heavy burden
The burden He lifted off of you

When you begged it of Him.

Are we not all beggars?

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