We sat and ate Korean in this place
that sits amid the poorer part of town,
with Al Jazeera on the tv screen,
and folks of every age and place of birth
And after eating, as we sought the car,
a homeless man, who once fought in the war,
approached us for a word. He said that he
lived outdoors now – the V.A. was no help –
We gave him all the cash we had, but he
said that he did not want it; but, instead,
that he would say a blessing for us there,
for although poor in money, rich in grace
was he. Who owns ideas – and who owns men?
He asked – I do not know –
not now
or then
(Originally posted 3-13-2016 – Owen)
Superbly written piece. I love it
Thank you. It was a heart opening experience, for sure.
I feel you on that
I feel you
This is beautiful, Owen.
Thank you. I thought about it all night.
It shows in your words. Beautiful!
Aw. 🙁 We’d all like to think the government is responsible for caring for our vets, and it is, but it was never entirely up to some federal organ to love them back to life. Same for any other homeless people. It’s not entirely up to paper-pushers anywhere to help folks avoid catastrophic living conditions of any sort. I’m glad you tried, and were blessed. God alone owns ideas, and He took full ownership of men, but, again, it’s not entirely up to Him to think or to love. Thank you for making me think, today.
“Ownership” is such a fleeting thing.
I’ve read this a couple of times, and I think I could read it dozens more. I’ll probably leave this tab up for now.
I recently finished reading the YA novel The Porcupine of Truth, which left me with a similar feeling. There are so many texts that sound so decisive that it’s comforting to find texts that conclude with, “I don’t really know, but hey, there’s a lot of good to marvel at even without knowing.”
This happened yesterday; my youngest (who I met there for lunch) and I were just talking about the experience. People like him, all around us, all the time.
This is well-composed, and thought-provoking 🙂