By Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle
HIS FIGURE was thin and worn with tattered clothes. A man in his forties, his cheeks were sunken, and face blackened with a hopelessness that made him seem twice his age. His eyes cried out in pain and loneliness as he watched the multitudes pass him by. He seemed invisible to the majority. The rest looked at him with disgust or pity. He didn’t know what hurt the most.
A young child, walking with their mother happened across the man. The child stopped suddenly, staring right into the man’s eyes. They held the gaze for a time while the mother tried to pull the child away. But the child refused to leave.
“It’s time to go,” the mother said.
“What’s wrong with that man?” asked the child innocently. Reluctant to answer, the mother tried again to pull the child away. But the child persisted, refusing to leave.
Hoping to break the child’s spell, the mother responded, “he’s homeless.”
“Let’s help him,” the child said.
“We can’t. There is nothing we can do. Now come,” But the child persisted.
“Why?” The child asked with the innocence of youth.
With a deep sigh, the mother responded, “The problem is just too big. Now COME!”
Just as the mother tried to again continue their journey the child reached into a pocket, pulled out half of a chocolate bar and handed it to the man. On instinct the mother reached out to stop this, and then pulled back as she saw the man smile and her child’s eyes radiate a beautiful sense of innocent love. It was in that moment that her eyes were opened to the man’s painful reality. All these people ignoring him, carelessly passing him. And, in the meagre offering of one small child, she saw hope return to his eyes.
We can all learn something from the child in this story. We all have the potential to bring hope to those who are vulnerable and hurting. There are countless unhoused people all around us in city centres, on street corners, outside shopping malls, and hidden in parks and neighbourhoods. Most are regularly made to feel invisible, despised, and pitied. A small gift can make a big difference.
What anyone can do:
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Treat them like human beings, look them in the eye, acknowledge their presence, even if you don’t have anything to give;
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Offer information – find out where they can go for a meal and let them know
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Offer food – snacks like granola bars, fruit, muffins; sandwiches; you never know how long it has been since someone has eaten.
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Pick up a coffee – especially in the cold months, a hot coffee or tea or hot chocolate can go a long way to warm someone up.
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New, warm socks – can make a huge difference for people outside on cold winter days.
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Care packages – including basic toiletries like toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, etc, that can help them feel human again.
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Period products – anyone who has had to buy period products knows these are expensive. Giving these to those on the street who need them is incredibly valued!
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Spare some change – don’t let judgement and assumptions stop you from showing love to your neighbour.
Bottom line, imagine the people you are seeing loitering around your town are family members. How would you want them treated? How would you want to be treated? As we enter the Season of Advent, that time when we prepare to meet God with us, the tangible, human presence of God in our world, one way we can prepare is to acknowledge the least of these who are the siblings of Jesus and, by extension, our siblings and doing as Jesus would do.
Rev. Chris Brouillard-Coyle is a co-chair of SEJH.