A man sits on the ground, cold, covered by a thin blanket.  People walk by in a hurry, pretending not to notice him. He is elderly. He is alone.

I walk by and make eye contact. He says, “Good Morning.”  There is a sadness in his eyes.  A look that tells me, he wants to feel connected to another person.   I often think of the homeless in DC.  I think of how lonely it must be.  How scary. How sad. I say, “Good morning to you,” and walk into Starbucks.  As I stand in line I think to myself, it is so cold out. I just can’t warm up.

I buy my coffee.  I buy a chamomile tea. I add honey to it. I walk outside and hand the tea to the elderly man. We lock eyes and he thanks me, twice.  As I walk away a woman comes up to me and says, “you did a good deed.”  I respond, “he looked cold.”

I got to thinking, as I walked on: every life is of value.  Everyone deserves to feel loved.  Chamomile tea will not bring this man out of homelessness, it will not give him a warm bed tonight.  It is my hope that in that moment, and while he holds that warm cup of tea, he feels connected.  He knows he is not alone.  He knows that someone cares.  He knows that he deserves to be treated with dignity.  For perhaps, what if that had been me?  What if by some terrible circumstance I had found myself in that situation?  Would I be any less of a person?  Deserving anything less than compassion?  No.

So I ask you, press pause.  Take a moment. We are never too busy to help others. Can you do something as small as buy a cup of tea for someone else today?

A man sits on the ground, cold, covered by a thin blanket.  People walk by in a hurry, pretending not to notice him. He is elderly. He is alone.