I met a man yesterday who was asking for food. He said he was hungry. The more I talked to him, the more I realized the challenges he faces daily. His speech was garbled, with more words I didn’t understand than did. Giving him the encouragement that there are lots of jobs in our area right now, meant nothing. I wondered what kind of job he could find or if he had an advocate working with him. I didn’t understand his answer when I twice asked where he was living. I couldn’t figure out how he found himself in front of a Dollar store looking for food.

What was obvious after my encounter, was how much I take for granted in life. The ability to speak, to think clearly, to communicate to another all are gifts we pay no attention to until a devastating illness or injury takes them away. I have been thinking of this man often in the hours since I met him. Where does he live? Who feels a sense of responsibility for him? Is there anyone in his life he can depend on? Who cares about him? Had he slipped away from a group home? Was he lost? Is he homeless.

I’m reminded that Jesus has a heart for people who live on the underside of life. He asks his followers to do the same. Today is Good Friday. A day to remember, not only Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, but also the words he lived by. For it was Jesus who told us “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Matthew 25:40 NIVUK