Turning away
I decided that I am not going to eat tonight. Because the homeless guy outside the café where I am sitting might not eat tonight. It is 8:22pm and I am hungry. The first thing I did when I decided to do this, though I haven’t eaten much today, was to go down the street to the gas station and buy a pop and smoke a bunch of cigarettes. So I threw them out. When I get hungry, I smoke. So I am not going to do that anymore tonight either. The first thing I noticed when walking back to the café was all the restaurants on this street. All warm and inviting and filled with people who were eating and enjoying each other’s company. I noticed several people smoking along the sidewalk. I noticed the want in my heart. Want for food, want for companionship, want for nicotine. Back at the café I settled into a Henri Nouwen book. He describes what it means to be Beloved. “Listening to that voice with great inner attentiveness, I hear ...