What we have

The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!” —Acts 3:5-6

“He made a face at my apple,” Lori said with surprise and dismay. A tinge of sorrow touched her next words. “It was all I had.”

Lori offered the apple from her lunch to a homeless soul she had just met on the street. My friend and fellow Boston University’s School of Theology classmate was on her way home from work at the campus bookstore when she passed him.

Maybe Lori’s story ends here. Maybe the one in need never appreciated what had been handed to him. Like the beggar in this scripture, the man on the street expected—or at least hoped for—something else, that something being money.

Maybe Lori’s story doesn’t end here. While eating the apple, maybe the man who received what a young, financially strapped student gave him, started thinking. Maybe the thinking turned his head and heart around. Maybe the charity—such as it was—made him realize everyone can offer something. That act of giving what he likely would not have bought for himself may have turned his life around.

Okay, sure, I may be the optimist here. But it’s possible. It IS possible. Rather than give this guy what he asked for (or was seeking), Lori gave him what he needed—just as Peter gave the man he met what he needed.

We can pass someone down and do nothing. Or we can trust God and let our small acts of kindness and generosity help someone get up and walk.

PRAYER: Lord, may what we have (which may not seem like much), be what is required for someone move forward. Amen.