A Soul Walkin' Home: Stories of Those Living on the Fringes...and What They Can Teach Us by Philip Beyer

Author:Philip Beyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-64559-360-7
Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
Published: 2019-09-17T00:00:00+00:00

Ain’t Nobody Gonna Help Me Out?

“Hey, I ain’t going to bite you!” He approached her, pushing his rusted bicycle with kicked-in spokes. Sunglasses cloaked his dark face.

“They won’t let me in the shelter,” he hollered after a few more steps.

“Me and two guys just need fifteen dollars each to get a room. Can you help me out?”

She studied his face. “Melvin?”

His Cheshire-cat smile vanished. He slowly took off his sunglasses staring at her. “Pastor Abby, is that you?”

She embraced him. “How are you?”

“Well, they have all these rules at the shelter. They ain’t fair. They say I have a bad attitude.”

“How’s your sobriety?”

Melvin’s body stiffened. He looked over his shoulder at the passing traffic. “Ain’t going to lie to you. Still drinking. I know I gotta go back.”

His hands jutted toward her, pleading. “But can’t you help me out just this one time? I ain’t got no place to stay.”

Pastor Abby reached into the back seat of her car. She pulled out a clear plastic bag. “I won’t give you fifteen dollars, Melvin. This has two dollars in it along with snack bars and water to tide you over.”

“There’s a seven o’clock AA meeting Tuesday at the mission… Will I see you there?”

“I—I’ll try to be there. But you know how things get in the way.”

“What’s more important than your sobriety?”

Melvin pushed his bike past her, mumbling as he walked away, “Ain’t nobody gonna help me out?”

For Reflection

Is there a message Melvin is missing? Is anyone helping him out?

Has anyone ever confronted you to “help you out”? Did you get the point? How did you react?

Is it a loving thing to “speak your truth?” Or more loving to not say anything?

Does saying “no” mean the other person must take responsibility?

Are you able to set clear boundaries with others?

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.