A friend and I were walking up along Bloor, and we saw a homeless person on the street begging. My friend responded by asking the question, “…why the government allows them to simply beg on the street.” Putting aside the psychological and social reasons for the reason why these people are there, my friend’s question seemed to imply something much more challenging. Underlying his question, seemed to be the supposition that the homeless person “shouldn’t be there.”
Granted we must eliminate suffering wherever we see it. However, the question got me thinking about the great service that the truly poor offer those of us who are more well off. If I take a closer look at what happens to me in the encounter with the destitute, I see two typical responses. The first is I turn away, trying not to give into the side of me that feels pity and compassion. I say to myself that its all scam, and my action wouldn’t do any good anyway.
However, I find another response that takes place that seems to be more life promoting. In seeing the poor individual who begs for some change, I am moved to compassion and I give. In this very simple action, I find myself being stretched. That is a part of me, a part that I often forget about, is being “trained.”
It is almost like a muscle. The more I use it, the stronger it becomes. Likewise, this small little blog is making the argument, that the poor, the homeless, the destitute work out our compassion muscles. They call out of us the response of mercy and charity. By calling this response out, they are indeed providing an invaluable service to the earth and human kind. They enrich the world, by making us more and more charitable and compassionate.
This is perhaps why Jesus calls the poor the “salt of the earth.” Indeed, the purpose of salt is not to add something new, but simply to draw out the taste that is already there. Each one of us has compassion, and charity locked away deep inside of us. It is the poor, the lowly, the troubled, who call this hidden resource out – inviting us to give a bit of a “good flavour” to this world.