I Saw A Beggar Today

How we see others will affect how we see ourselves. How we see ourselves will affect how we see others. How we see Christ will determine how we see everyone.

The road of life is littered with the scattered pieces of men who lived their lives in pride, arrogance, and self-centeredness. Only a gaze into the heavens can protect us from the same lonely fate. Just one glimpse into the face of Jesus can save us from the destruction of pride. We must see ourselves properly.

After reflecting on this, I grabbed my pen and wrote this free verse poem:

The Painter

One day, a man who was a painter approached me. He was covered with specks of paint that had splattered on his face, clothing, and hands. He was an older gentleman–socially quiet and observant. He was also a reader of philosophy. Few would know it, but his portfolio of reading was filled with old and modern views of life, meaning, and eternity. All of the vast reading he had done had failed to answer the big questions of life. His soul was restless and he was intent on finding answers.

As we began talking, I realized the exposure he had to various philosophies. He was trying to bring them together into a cohesive understanding of existence and life. This search was weighing heavy on his mind. We engaged in discussion about the many philosophers he had studied. I listened and then discussed the self-defeating arguments these men gave in their writings.

Once he realized the truth of what I shared, he asked me how I saw things. I simply pointed him to the message of the gospel, lifted up Jesus Christ as the ultimate reality and answer to life, and answered his various questions. The scales fell from his eyes and he surrendered his life to Christ. Through faith, he stepped into a relationship with the Lord. He saw the majestic beauty of the life, death, burial, and resurrection of the Lamb of God.

We Are Not Above the Master

At times we may find our hearts questioning the purpose for our suffering. Especially if the trial continues beyond the point that we see no rhyme or reason to its length. Let us ask, “Who have we gained the greatest encouragement from? Those in pleasure or those in sorrow?” Those who are best at drying eyes and comforting broken hearts are those who have trodden their own path of sorrow ahead of us.

Only recipients of grace are capable of dispensing gifts of grace. If our road is long and dusty, we search out those who are ‘dirtied’ from the same road, not one whose clothes are untouched because of their comfort and ease.

Ms. Carrie Breck (1855-1934) spent most of her life in Oregon. A devout Christian, she was devoted to her husband and five daughters. She had no sense of pitch, and could not carry a tune, but she had the gift of poetic rhythm, and wrote more than 2,000 poems. She was not particularly robust in health, and had to take frequent rests while doing chores. At such times, she would sit in her favorite rocking chair, take up a notebook, and write poetry, often with a baby on her knee, or playing at her fee. She gave us the words to this old gospel hymn.

Once I heard a song of sweetness,
As it cleft the morning air,
Sounding in its blest completeness,
Like a tender, pleading prayer;
And I sought to find the singer,
Whence the wondrous song was borne;
And I found a bird, sore wounded,
Pinioned by a cruel thorn.