There is a bigger picture in life. Winter can be a time of rest or a season of cold. People can allow their attitudes to emulate the weather. Neighborliness can be as fleeting as a cold wind. The bitter cold can reflect a lonely soul. Look deep and you will see a heart that yearns for love and acceptance regardless of the frozen exterior.
The van was cold and covered with a dusting of snow. Enough snow to use the windshield wipers to remove it. I left my driveway and felt the cold air from the defroster as I drove. The first person I saw was an elderly man standing at the corner of Main and Carlton. He was standing at the curb and wanted to cross the street in front of me. I waved him on and he hesitated. He lowered one foot off the curb and then pulled it back several times before he finally made contact with the pavement. It probably took about 15 seconds or so for the gentleman to get off the curb that was approximately 6 inches high. He looked up and spoke loud enough for me to hear through my windshield: "Getting old!" I smiled and gave him a peace sign.
The next person I saw was a lady getting off a bus with a cane. Her cane was the kind designed for blind people. She stepped to the curb and somehow knew it wasn't safe to cross at that moment. Maybe the flashing red hand was making noises for her to hear when it would be safe to cross the street.
After several more blocks of empty streets, I had to slow down to avoid hitting a man in the middle of the street. He was pushing a shopping cart full of cans and bottles. I'm not sure why he chose the middle of the street to push his cart. He was on his way to the supermarket to redeem his nickel valued treasures for some cold, hard cash. Many homeless folks spend their days canvassing trash cans for discarded returnables. Their nights are spent in cold lonely places most of us would never set foot in.
I was only 2 blocks away from my destination. I was headed to our Youth Center to open up for an Income Tax Preparation program sponsored by Erie County Legislator Tim Hogues and students from Daemen College in Buffalo. Our Boaz Basketball Program that teaches hoop and character skills had to be cancelled due to another event in the gym. On the corner of Maryland and Niagara, I spotted a man in a wheelchair waiting for a bus. I looked at the temperature gauge on the ceiling of my van, it read 23 degrees. Kind of cold to be sitting motionless on a cold concrete sidewalk without any defense from the wind. The heater in my van was working nicely now.
I opened the Youth Center and made sure the Taxi servants had everything they needed and then I was back in my van. I turned the corner on Hudson and 7th in time to see another man with his shopping cart full of treasures in the middle of the road. Another car pulled in front of me and honked his horn at the man struggling to push his metal cage on wheels uphill on a snow covered street. The car stopped at the light at Hudson and Niagara. The driver inched up to Niagara as close as he could, blocking off the crosswalk. A pedestrian could not pass in front of him. I thought about pulling down my window and chastising him for his cold and callous behavior. I stopped as I thought about how I was judging him for his judgement of someone else.
I thought about the words that were blowing like snow flurries around in my brain:
https://www.facebook.com/MentorForce
A Scholarship for a young person to attend a 3 day Wilderness Adventure in the Adirondack Mountains is valued at $185. We are a 501c3 and your donations are tax deductible. You may give online at:
http://www.gofundme.com/73te4
If you are looking for a speaker for parents or youth or both, please call us.
The van was cold and covered with a dusting of snow. Enough snow to use the windshield wipers to remove it. I left my driveway and felt the cold air from the defroster as I drove. The first person I saw was an elderly man standing at the corner of Main and Carlton. He was standing at the curb and wanted to cross the street in front of me. I waved him on and he hesitated. He lowered one foot off the curb and then pulled it back several times before he finally made contact with the pavement. It probably took about 15 seconds or so for the gentleman to get off the curb that was approximately 6 inches high. He looked up and spoke loud enough for me to hear through my windshield: "Getting old!" I smiled and gave him a peace sign.
 | ||
| A curb might as well be a cliff to someone unsure of their ability to balance themselves. |
After several more blocks of empty streets, I had to slow down to avoid hitting a man in the middle of the street. He was pushing a shopping cart full of cans and bottles. I'm not sure why he chose the middle of the street to push his cart. He was on his way to the supermarket to redeem his nickel valued treasures for some cold, hard cash. Many homeless folks spend their days canvassing trash cans for discarded returnables. Their nights are spent in cold lonely places most of us would never set foot in.
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| A lone soul walks on a cold, deserted street. |
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| There's a cross on top of the red brick building. I wonder if help is out of reach for some folks? |
I thought about the words that were blowing like snow flurries around in my brain:
"Struggling, Treasures, Cage, Wheelchair, Blind, Homeless, Motionless, Cold, Elderly, Redeem, Valued, Discarded, Valuables, Trash, Safe, Peace, Cross."
What do those words mean to you?
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| How can we reach the discarded returnables of humanity? Is the Cross out of reach because of our haughtiness? |
Thanks for your time. Go do something nice for somebody.
"Find new ways,
in as many ways,
in more excellent ways,
on all of your days,
to show love."
Bob Kuebler
YWAP Director
YWAP Director
Youth With A Purpose
In School & After School
In The Mountains & In The Hood
In The Mountains & In The Hood
157 Locust Street
Buffalo, New York 14204
716-830-8240
Please visit our United Way Page at:http://fundraise.springiton.org/fundraise?fcid=236254
Please visit our United Way Page at:http://fundraise.springiton.org/fundraise?fcid=236254
"All Children Are Gifted"
http://thebrightspotreport.blogspot.com/https://www.facebook.com/MentorForce
A Scholarship for a young person to attend a 3 day Wilderness Adventure in the Adirondack Mountains is valued at $185. We are a 501c3 and your donations are tax deductible. You may give online at:
http://www.gofundme.com/73te4
If you are looking for a speaker for parents or youth or both, please call us.
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