(Don't) Walk Away

you are standing there, face pressed into your hands

head bent low, hair tumbled, and body slumped

I pause, hands full of papers and bags and myself

the downtown street is heavy with dusk and the lights flicker

I hear the whisper but stand there, arguing with myself

you remain still, a frozen image of despair

I feel the nudge but stand there, considering my comfort 

you remain stiff, the embodiment of overwhelmed

hands nervously shaking, I walk a few steps closer

the night has fully descended now and the streetlights are glaring

my indecisiveness, my renamed excuses claw at my insides

I take a deep breath, pull my things closer- and walk away


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I don't want to be the kind of person who walks away from a need that I could have met. It could be the smallest thing that means the world to someone (this post comes to mind), or it could be something a little bigger, a little bolder, that shows them Jesus. After all, there's so much in this world that we can't do anything about....so why are we passing up chances right where we are to do something? Let's be in tune to what Jesus wants us to do, and then let's do it. Whether it's to smile, to hug, to speak, to listen, or whatever it may be, let's do something. I don't want to walk away any more. 

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But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? // 1 John 3:17 

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ // Matthew 25:40