… I saw him crossing Rutledge at Calhoun walking towards King. He was maybe 60, maybe younger. It was hard to tell with the beard.

He was using crutches. He moved slowly. He looked dirty. I am positive he lived on the street.

I rolled down  my window and asked him if he needed a ride. He shuffled towards the passenger side and opened the door. It took him a while to get his feet right and get into my car. He said he appreciated the lift and that he needed to get to the Pig. That would have been quite a walk at his pace.  The Pig is almost at the foot of the bridge.  

I asked him how he ended up on crutches.  He said that he fell real hard and got hurt one night when he was drunk.

I asked him how he came about all of his tattoos. He replied that he tattooed people when he was in prison. He practised on himself.

I asked what he was in for.  He said he got into a fight. I didn’t ask how serious of a fight. It must have been pretty serious for him to have been in long enough for that many tattoos.

Hmmm. What had I gotten myself into.

He asked me why I picked him up. I told him that I was called to serve others.

He asked why serve him. I said he looked like he was in need.

He asked me if I was a church guy.  I said that I went to church if that is what he meant.  He said that most of the church people he had met treated him like he was a nothing. He said he didn’t think I was like them. He wanted to meet more church people who cared.

I told him that I was sorry if someone who claimed to be a church person had ever treated him poorly. He said thanks.

I told him there was a group of people that met at the Music Farm on Sunday mornings and they would not treat him like crap if he cared to worship with them. He said he would check it out.

I took him to the Pig and I bought him a pack of smokes because that is what he said he needed.  I told him to try and stay off the juice and try and stay out of jail. He said he wouldn’t promise anything.

We parted ways …

It happened over the summer when I was coming back from a function at Lowndes Grove in downtown Charleston. The event I was attending was a fundraiser for a charity that helps treat childhood obesity.  I think most everyone in the World would agree that helping children is a good thing.  But what do you think they would say about buying a homeless guy a pack of smokes?

I wonder a lot about that encounter.  I wonder where that guy is now. I wonder what would have happened if I had just let him shuffle on by. I wonder if that moment had any impact on his life. Or mine.

I wonder if he was one of The Least of These?