The guy on the bench

I was on my way to Quizno's for lunch yesterday, planning to have a tasty sub and then sit down to do the class reading for the next day and go over my research data. I passed a guy on a sidewalk bench with a sign out asking for money. I don't usually give people money for fear of misuse, but this was a perfect opportunity. "Do you want a sandwich?" I asked, and he said he would. I sat down next to him and we both dug into our sandwiches; I was pretty hungry. We started talking about random stuff, and a high school girl came up and asked the homeless guy for a cigarette, a request which he did not grant. I pointed out that she was too young to smoke and asked her if her parents let her smoke, to which she replied that she was 18 (riiiigggghhhht...) I was hoping to have an opportunity to speak some conviction to her, but she got on the bus and left.

I and the homeless guy sat for a long while talking about things. After he brought up religion and the fact that he grew up a Baptist in Texas, I asked him what he thought and learned that he pretty much stuck with his Baptist beliefs, but it was evident from other parts of his story that he justified certain immoral behaviors even though he knew what the Bible said about them. He just made excuses.

Now, he could have been giving me a story, but I don't think he was. I am fairly preceptive about fables, since I've talked to a number of homeless or disturbed people. This guy was all there, very much in control. After a while, I finally learned that he had been in prison for 13 years on a murder charge. Living in a bad neighborhood in Dallas, his stepdaughter was offered drugs several times by local hoodlums. He warned them never to offer her drugs again, but they flaunted his threat. So after it happened again, he picked up a firearm, walked down on the street, and shot and killed as many as he could, 3 of 7, laid down the weapon, and waited for the police. Remorseless, he was sentenced to over two hundred years in prison and spent 13 years in solitary confinement until he was finally granted a retrial, had his sentence reduced, and was released. Wow.

So, he can't really stand to sleep indoors anymore or to be around too many people. After all that lonely time, he's pretty much a loner now, too. If he has enough supplies, he'll just stay at his campsite for days on end. And sometimes he has to walk out of church early, because he just can't take being in the big room with so many people anymore. He has everything he needs: some clothes, a bike (with all necessary tools in a handy zipper bag attached to the bike), a helmet, and a backpack.

This guy needs a friend, so I will try to be one and continue to share with him. Although he professes Christ, he was unrepentant about his crime. Pray for this guy.