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 I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car. I had just come
from the car wash and was waiting for my wife to get out ofwork.
Coming my way from across the parking lot was what society would
consider a bum. From the looks of him, he had no car, no home, no
clean clothes, and no money. There are times when you feel generous
but there are other times that you just don’t want to be bothered.
This was one of those “don’t want to be bothered times.”

“I hope he doesn’t ask me for any money,” I thought.

He didn’t.

He came and sat on the curb in front of the bus stop but he didn’t
look like he could have enough money to even ride the bus. After a
few minutes he spoke.

“That’s a very pretty car,” he said.

He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around him. His scraggly
blond beard keep more than his face warm.

I said, “thanks,” and continued wiping off my car.

He sat there quietly as I worked. The expected plea for money never
came. As the silence between us widened something inside said, “ask
him if he needs any help.” I was sure that he would say “yes” but I
held true to the inner voice.

“Do you need any help?” I asked.

He answered in three simple but profound words that I shall never
forget. We often look for wisdom in great men and women. We expect
it from those of higher learning and accomplishments. I expected
nothing but an outstretched grimy hand. He spoke the three words
that shook me.

“Don’t we all?” he said.

I was feeling high and mighty, successful and important, above a
bum in the street, until those three words hit me like a twelve
gauge shotgun.

Don’t we all?

I needed help. Maybe not for bus fare or a place to sleep, but I
needed help. I reached in my wallet and gave him not only enough for
bus fare,but enough to get a warm meal and shelter for the day.

Those three little words still ring true. No matter how much you
have, no matter how much you have accomplished, you need help too.
No matter how little you have, no matter how loaded you are with
problems, even without money or a place to sleep, you can give help.
Even if it’s just a compliment, you can give that.

You never know when you may see someone that appears to have it all.
They are waiting on you to give them what they don’t have. A
different perspective on life, a glimpse at something beautiful, a
respite from daily chaos, that only you through a torn world can
see. Maybe the man was just a homeless stranger wandering the
streets. Maybe he was more than that. Maybe he was sent by a power
that is great and wise, to minister to a soul too comfortable in
themselves. Maybe God looked down, called an Angel, dressed him like
a bum, then said, “go minister to that man cleaning the car, that
man needs help.”

Don’t we all?

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Prof.
Wahjudi Prakarsa