Portage Guy

So I was driving home from school today like normal. no big deal, nothing out of the norm. these days driving has been quite a different task. this year i decided to partake in lent. so, for the past 5ish weeks i have not listened to music in my car at all. i know. it seems kind of small and minute...and indeed, it is. but music is a huge deal to me. it's been weird, and it hasn't necessarily gone as i thought it would, yet it's still been good. for the first week or so i realized how much i would literally separate myself from the people around me while i was on the road. for the first few days i remember driving down the normal streets but seeing new things. it's like i never even looked at what was around me while i was driving. anyway, there's a reason for all of this.

these past few days have been especially cool because i've had my windows down. i'd be driving and hear all the things around me that i wouldn't normally hear. the sun is shining, the birds are singing, the wind is blowing. you can just feel Him all around you. but something happened today, in the process of seeing and hearing all of this...i witnessed the cruelty of the world. You guys know portage guy right? you know, that guy who stands at the 77N-Portage exit. he's there anyday it's not freezing cold. same sign. same clothes. "Stranded" it says. stranded from what? stranded from who?

you pull up. look over his way. he won't make eye contact. he's got it figured out. most people probably don't want to make eye contact with him. so today was different. i pulled up and was first in line. stopped at the red light again. he was there. to my left. do i look? i don't have money. then i hear it. i hear it because i have my window slightly down. something that broke my heart. a car drives by on portage and you hear a yell. a voice. insulting this man. this one that's there everyday.

i sat there. comepletely shocked. how do i love this man? i prayed. right there. "Help him know that you love him and that he is valued, even when the world tells him otherwise"

So how do we respond to this? i'm completely baffled. how do i show this man that God loves him...am i just as at fault as that person driving by that yells at him if i don't say anything at all?