Another Perspective-Changing Interaction

If I didn’t know any better, I would think the Lord is trying to change my perspective on life in general.

I wrote a post about the time I spent sharing the Word to the youth at the Daybreak Youth Rehab Center in Vancouver — the Lord used that as an opportunity to show me a new way to look at my own life, that even in the midst of my troubles, I can be used to help others…it was truly a faith-building experience.

Just a few days later — Monday afternoon, to be exact — I was at the Lloyd Center MAX station in Portland waiting for a couple friends who were visiting town from Springfield. I was supposed to meet up with them at 4 p.m. but they ended up being about 15-20 minutes late.

That 15 minutes or so opened the door for God once again to show me some needed perspective for my life.

A homeless man came up to me as I sat on a bench in front of the MAX platform. I was fully convinced he was going to be one of many others who beg for money or food, but you could imagine my surprise when he just stood there and said this:

“I’m not going to ask you for money or anything man, I just want someone to listen.”

I sat there kinda shocked because I had never heard a person in need simply ask for someone to listen. It coursed through my mind that this man was asking for something completely immaterial, more important than tangible money or something to stave off hunger for awhile.

My response? “I’m all ears.”

I made sure of it too. I looked him straight in the eye when he talked, and I listened such that I remembered every single word.

He spoke of how he lost his job at Intel around a year ago or so, plus his home and all his material possessions. He went from having a good income and planning for his future to out on the street in no time.

“The weather’s changing,” he said. “Gotta stay in the sun, because you get in the shade of a building, you lose 20 degrees.”

After a little bit more conversation, mostly small talk about Portland and how it’s a cool area — he said “I still think Portland is the best city in the world even though I don’t have a roof over my head” — I offered to buy him a sandwich at the shop across the street. I never do things like that, but the way the guy approached me and just asked me to listen to him compelled me to attempt to help him in any way I could.

Oddly enough, to me at least, he refused my offer. “Man you done enough for me sitting here listening. No one ever does that, they all walk or turn away or act like they’re clicking on their phone.”

Right after he said that, he turned to walk away. I heard him say “thank you so much,” as he walked off toward Lloyd Center. I stared down at the pavement for a minute, then looked in the general direction he walked again and he was gone.

The entire conversation took fifteen minutes, but the perspective I gained from that short window of time will stay with me for far longer.

I don’t know what compels people to do it, but the man was right when he said people will normally walk on by, look at their cell phones, or just ignore a homeless person who is obviously in a state of poverty — not only that, but emotional anguish at their condition and a deep sense of shame.

Those fifteen minutes of interaction with a man whom many would say exists in a lower social class than the rest of us, may have been the only meaningful interaction he had that day. I hope that wasn’t the case…I hope someone else stepped up to the plate and listened to the man speak.

Because if they did, they would have walked away with an appreciation for the simplest things in life and an impetus to help those in need.

Just like I walked away with Monday afternoon at the Lloyd Center MAX station.