The Deal by Mark Spencer

I helped a homeless man today,
I bought for him a meal.

But that’s not how I helped him,
That was payment for a deal.

I told him I would feed him,
If he’d listen to my plea.

But he had to pay attention,
And not just humor me.

I asked if he believed in God,
He firmly told me no.

No God would let him come to this,
To let him fall so low.

I asked him how he got there,
And he told me with a frown,

Divorce and drugs are why I’m here,
‘Twas they that brought me down.

I said it sounds like it was you,
Who took this fateful road.

Alone you bore its burden,
And were crushed beneath the load.

Had God been there to help you,
It would not have come to this.

I would not have come to find you,
Within such a deep abyss.

He asked me why it had to be,
When someone gave him aid.

They always had to speak of God,
Their offer just a trade.

I said because its not the will,
Of your father up above,

To leave you in this wilderness
Without offering his love.

So he sends you his messengers,
To help you see the light.

And to offer you assistance,
To help you win this fight.

Alone you’ll keep on falling,
Till the burden takes its toll.

And the messengers stop calling,
As the darkness takes your soul.

There really isn’t much to lose,
To try a different way.

>From that which brought you to the fate,
I’ve found you in today.

Nothing is a certainty,
Perhaps I could be wrong.

For believing in almighty God,
Yet my faith in him is strong.

But if, in fact, you were right,
And God did not exist,

The only things I might regret,
Are sinful pleasures I missed.

But you my friend, what will you miss,
If it turns out I’m right?

Will you risk your immortal soul,
Being cast out of the light?

I handed him a bible,
And said the choice is yours.

You can stay the course you’ve charted,
Or sail for different shores.

As I left him to his meal,
I gave him one last look.

And I smiled at what I witnessed,
For he was opening the Book.

If the road you’re on is leading to one form of destruction or another, doesn’t it stand to reason that something better probably lies in the other direction? How often do the messengers find you? Don’t you ever wonder why we keep coming to call on you? The messengers don’t actively
seek you out, they are put there at the moment when they will be most needed. They are sometimes treated as an annoyance, for letting themselves be used by God for the purpose helping people they don’t even know. They’ve
even been attacked. Yet they continue to do it in spite of the risks. They do it, not for money, not for glory, not because it’s a great way to make friends, but because they want you to know you are not alone. That God hasn’t
forgotten you, and because they care. Because you are important to them, and to me and, most of all, to God.

LinzAy (64.12.96.39) -- Monday, April 28 2003, 11:13 pm

''''''
That was very good. I want to describe it better than good, but dunno how. It's very true.......

Justus Isaiah Richardson (152.163.189.200) -- Tuesday, April 29 2003, 08:26 am

Was that you???
Somebody did the exact same thing for me when I was eighteen and living on the streets! Could that have been you?? Did this happen in Salinas, about nine years ago?

Justus

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