A Dime For A BeggarA Story by Steve PaschallIt's August 14th. Mom's birthday. I'm partying with my new best friend, Jim. It's Jim's birthday too. Mom will be here for her visit tomorrow and I can't wait to tell her of the birthday connection. So I pick her up at the airport and we head out to look for Jim's bus. We're almost there when I see a hippie waving wildly. I stop the van and see that it's my old friend, Ground Score Mark, from Frisco. Mark is very hospitable and I thought what a great welcome for Mom. Just then Jim and his girlfriend came walking up and we were having a great impromptu pow-wow on the sidewalk there. I was ecstatic, there was nothing more I could have asked for at that moment.
A homeless guy walked around our little party but before he totally let the opportunity go by, I heard him say "spare any change?" Now, what went through my head right then is hard to say, so I'll just say that I couldn't be bothered and I was right back to my joyous occasion and that day remained one of my happiest memories ......for about a year.
I was thinking about my joyous memory and I was so happy reliving it ......till I heard: "spare any change?"
Time stopped. I was stuck in that moment. I had seen myself as the luckiest person on earth and I was right. God, family and friends were all on my side and I couldn't have planned a happier moment for myself. It was handed to me on a silver platter.....but when I let my homeless brother walk away empty handed I became unworthy and I could see myself as the ungrateful person I really was. I wanted to fall on my knees and beg for mercy, knowing full well that I had shown none. After what seemed like hours in hell, I wrote this poem:
I didn't give a dime to a beggar Now, I'm about to go insane There's really no excuse for that It cannot 'simply' be explained
God has done a lot for me Through friends and family to be sure You'd think I'd want to pay him back And give a few bucks to the poor
A fool just let that chance go by And it shakes me to the core. © 2011 Steve Paschall |
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Added on August 3, 2011 Last Updated on August 3, 2011 Author
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