OK I know I have made reference before of this talented singer/songwriter, but once again, I need to give a big kudo's to my FAVORITE musician out there. http://www.michaelmcleanmusic.com/ This man is SO talented and his music touches my heart in so many ways.
This time of year I have to listen to his CD's over and over.....especially THE FORGOTTON CAROLS which is a story / musical about the people who were all in attendance of Christ's birth and their words and feelings from the outside looking in. VERY touching music. One of the songs is entitled "HOMELESS" ....
" homeless, homeless, like the Christchild was, we are not homeless, homeless, there is hope because, he lived his whole life to lead us, we know he'll never leave us, homeless, homeless, for in his heart there is a home......."
Just incredible music, really touches your heart and mind. I think especially of this song today because of an incident that happened to me yesterday.
Late afternoon yesterday I was headed to take my son to work after school.......yesterday was our coldest day (yet) of the year here in Eastern Idaho...below 0 temps. As I stopped at the gas station to put my last few dollars in the gas tank and then climbed back into the warm van, a scruffy looking man wandered up to the trash can by my van. At first, I immediatly locked my doors. Then as I watched, I saw that he was rummaging through the trash.......I assumed he was looking for aluminum pop cans..to recycle (common occurance around here). Sadly, he was not looking for cans. Instead, the man began pulling out bits of food from the trash, finally setteling on a partially eaten sandwich , which he carefully placed on a paper plate that had also been pulled from the cold, dirty trash can. My jaw dropped, my heart pounded in my chest and I immediatly teared up. Broke my heart, right there in the drive through gas station I watched a grown man, freezing cold eating trash in front of my warm, cozy car. Mind you, I had just put my last $7 in the gas tank and aside from some pennies and nickles in my wallet, I had nothing. Not a check, not a credit card. I was so guilt ridden I wanted to just die.
I drove away, there was nothing I could do and it about killed me. I spent the next 40 minutes between conversation with my son and on the phone with my sisters reliving the whole event, trying to figure out what I could have or should have done. In the end, I did make some phone calls to try to help, my sister even drove by looking for him to see if she could drop him some warm food, but she could not find him. Honestly , the bottom line was that I felt like I needed to do something, but it was too late.
So, I am sure the feelings of hurt that I had yesterday will show themselves in other ways, the bell ringers outside of the WalMart stores, extra friendly hellos to strangers as I go about my days. I just wish I could have done something for that one man. Was he a showman? Is he a professional panhandler who really has a lot of money? or was he someone who was mentally ill or maybe unable to work for some reason? For all I know, he had lost his job, his home and his family and was totally desolate. I don't know. I probably never will. But, this all brings the song I mentioned above to heart. I just hope that if that man has nothing else in his life right now, no home, no warm place to stay and no food.....I hope and pray that he has Christ in his life and that love and spirit will warm him until he can get back into a good place in life.
Blessings to all my friends and family and loved ones this Christmas.
Darla
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