Is your life affected by someone else’s drinking, drugging or mental illness? To help them, you have to help yourself first.
» Al-Anon / Alateen
» Al-Anon / Alateen of Greensboro & High Point
» Mental Health Association in Greensboro
Lyrics:
Well baby, there you stand
With your little head down in your hands
Oh my God, you can’t believe it’s happening again
Your baby’s gone, and you’re all alone
and it looks like the endYou’re back out on the street
And you’re tryin’ to remember
How do you start it over?
You don’t know if you can
You don’t care much for a stranger’s touch,
But you can’t hold your manYou never thought you’d be alone this far down the line
But I know what’s been on your mind
You’re afraid it’s all been wasted timeThe autumn leaves have got you thinking
about the first time that you fell
You didn’t love the boy too much, no, no,
you just loved the boy too well,
So you live from day to day, and you dream
about tomorrow
And the hours go by like minutes
and the shadows come to stay
So you take a little something
to make them go away
And I could have done so many things, baby
If I could only stop my mind from wonderin’ what
I left behind and from worrying ’bout this wasted timeLove has come and gone
and the years keep rushing on
I remember what you told me before
you went out on your own:
“Sometimes to keep it together, we
got to leave it alone.”
So you can get on with your search, baby,
and I can get on with mine
And maybe someday we will find,
that it wasn’t really
wasted time…– “Wasted Time,” The Eagles
Never, never give up.
“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:13
Hi Cara Michele,
I always seem to have you on the brain when I cruise around the web! Here are a couple of short podcasts that will hopefully bless you, especially the second.
http://audio.ancientfaith.com/gallatin/pfp004_pc.mp3
http://audio.ancientfaith.com/gallatin/pfp005_pc.mp3
They are entitled: “Beggars and Saints”
~Anna
Anna, thanks for the links.
I agree with Gallatin’s premise that a lot of people (including Christians) choose not to give or help or to “not see” panhandlers (I abhor the word “beggar”), but I don’t follow Gallatin’s practice of giving money to everyone who asks me for it.
In Acts 3, John and Peter are asked for money by a lame man. Peter responds, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” The man’s request was for money, but his need was for healing. John and Peter didn’t have money to give him, but they could meet his need to be healed.
In the same way, I don’t have the money to give to everyone who asks me for it. (And many of them have stopped asking.) So rather than meeting the request, I try to meet the need. I have access to necessities (food, hygiene items, clothes, blankets, etc.) through the church and NightWatch. I have access to resources and information (shelter, rehab, medical care, etc.) through the agencies we work with. I have access to the power of Jesus through prayer with and for them. So I don’t give money to panhandlers — I focus on need.
I appreciated the story of the orange soda in the second audio. I have similar stories of the generosity of homeless and poor friends, sharing with others what’s been given to them.