“Panhandling is against the law. Please do not give to law-breakers.”
(What would Jesus do?)
I’m riding a Manhattan-bound N train when a drone-like “female” AI voice booms over the subway loudspeaker:
“Passengers, panhandling is against the law. Please do not give to law-breakers.”
Let’s rewind back to the 70s or 80s. If a sci-fi flick injected that exact pre-recorded robotic spiel into a dystopian subway scene, the audience would’ve chuckled at such an over-dramatic representation of such an inhuman future.
Please do not give to law-breakers?
The banks get bailed out, elected officials get bribes disguised as “campaign contributions,” and transnational corporations get exponentially more government subsidies than any alleged “welfare queen.”
But they tell us not to give to law-breakers.
If you pay taxes, that’s all you do.
I’ve written and spoken about topics like economic inequality for decades. Outside of those who’ve been open to learning from my words and experiences, I’d just be a voice in the wilderness if I stopped there.
But instead, I follow the lead of Matthew 25:35-40:
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”
Every single one of us has the foundation-shaking power to stay human — to reject groupthink, to shun ego, to forgive the trespasses of those who trespass against us, and to lead by example.
What will you do today for the “least of these brothers and sisters of mine”?
While you ponder that, here’s how you can help me expand my daily work:
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Groups like Al-Anon will recommend those with addiction not be enabled . I wonder if this is part of the reason we are taught to be wary of panhandlers?
Or is it an extension of the "Protestant work ethic"?
Many great saints distributed good to the poor, presumably with no discussion regarding their being deserving or not.
A funny but also sad story; Not too many years ago, before my husband retired from the PO, he was walking his route through the "hip" downtown area during the weekly farmer's market. Many people were milling around at the vendors on that beautiful warm summer day. He noticed a fellow sprawled on a lawn under the shade of a tree, dressed in rags and apparently sleeping, possibly dehydrated. My husband approached him and asked if he needed help. Up jumped this disheveled man, yelling "Hallelujah, Brother!", immediately shaking my husband's hand with joy. Turned out it was a friend of ours, a carpenter by trade, but he also ran his own private food bank to help those less fortunate. His experiment on that day was to find out how long it would take before he was approached by anyone, be it an offer of kindness or not. He'd spent over three hours laying on the grass as people walked past him averting their gaze, when finally.. up stepped the postal carrier to offer help. So yeah, we had a laugh about it afterwards, but also terribly saddened by the fact that so many chose to ignore someone in need.