I was parked in a McDonald's drive-thru in downtown St. Louis on November 20. A man walks up to my car window wearing worn clothing and broken down shoes. He motioned to his ear, mouthed something and handed me a crumpled note.
Without even reading the note, I already know what it will say: It'll say "I’m deaf and unable to speak, I’m homeless and without money, and I need just a few dollars to get [somewhere] where I can get help."
I know all of the cynical arguments for not giving this guy any money. "Any money you give him will just be used to buy drugs or alcohol," the cynics say. "He’s probably just faking being deaf as part of his scam anyway. He looks able-bodied enough to earn his own money. People shouldn’t have to endure being shaken down for money and made to feel guilty in a drive-thru lane."
I also know the caring, well-reasoned and well-meaning arguments for not giving this guy any money. Many experts argue that giving food or money to homeless individuals discourages them from going to shelters and charity centers where life-saving services are available. And getting the poor and homeless into contact with these vital sevices and selfless servants is the one proven way to affect positive outcomes for these individuals who almost universally have mental health issues, substance abuse issues or both.
So I know what the experts and the cynics say I shouldn't do. But I also know what some other pretty respectable folks say I (and we all) should do:
There are those who say to the poor that they seem to look to be in such good health: "You are so lazy! You could work. You are young. You have strong arms."
You don't know that it is God's pleasure for this poor person to go to you and ask for a handout. You show yourself as speaking against the will of God.
There are some who say: "Oh, how badly he uses it!"
May he do whatever he wants with it! The poor will be judged on the use they have made of their alms, and you will be judged on the very alms that you could have given but haven't.
St. John Vianney
I can safely dismiss the cynics who say the homeless aren't worthy of help; that's just not me. But how do I (or any of us) balance the discrepancy between what the intellectual and spiritual experts say we should do to help?
