The Unmerciful Beggar

Just an hour or so ago as I ate my dinner at a streetside stand on a popular corner of my town, I watched as one beggar literally punched another beggar in the face just for walking through ‘his’ area.

I was immediately struck by the fact that this man who survives by depending on the generosity and mercy of others, has no generosity or mercy in himself for those even less fortunate than himself.

I was personally turned off from ever wanting to ‘have mercy’ again on this unmerciful beggar. I actually see the guy frequently. He is mildly mentally handicapped and spends most of his time around this intersection. I was instead suddenly filled with the desire to go chase down the other poor guy who got hit in the jaw! He had walked away rubbing his jaw and wincing in pain.

So I finished eating rather quickly, jumped in my minivan and went off towards home which happened to be the same street the other beggar was walking along. I expected to see him, and sure enough, about a quarter mile down the road, there he was still walking along. He was also a mentally handicapped man, but even worse off than his persecuter. I stopped nearby and hollered for him to come over. I gave him 5 RMB (10 times what people would normally give a beggar over here!) and asked him his name. He spoke very broken Chinese (or any language for that matter) so I didn’t understand his response except that he said at one point that I was a good man. Although I knew he couldn’t read I tried to give him a tract and explain to him that he could have someone else read it for him. But he didn’t understand and simply went on his way. He made sure to stop and wave as I drove off.

So what is the moral of this story? No matter how bad you may have it in life, always look for ways to bless those who are less fortunate than you are. The first beggar is as guilty as sin for being unmerciful to his fellow man. Being poor is no excuse for being selfish. God has commanded all of us to put others first, before ourselves.