Beggars - They want YOUR spare change!

Driving around the typically average city in Brasil we will find an abundance of beggars practically at every intersection of significance. Today for an example, as I wound my way through town it dawned on me that at many traffic signals there were beggars working every automobile that found itself delayed by a red light. Their coordination seemed to be so well thought-out, I was wondering if organized labor had become involved in their efforts to collect everyone’s spare change. By the way, an interesting side note; I drive an 86’ Volkswagen Fusca (Beetle) in really great condition, but somehow it seems to be exempt from the intersection’s raid on spare change. .. maybe it’s me that’s causing the passover. Let’s hope not.

Here’s where I’m begging for your help! – At what point do we not give beggars our spare change? I don’t know about you, but it’s necessary for me to exercise a considerable amount of self-discipline as I try to avoid analyzing and speculating (really only guessing) which sins against society did these beggars commit that landed them in the intersections. I would imagine this would be a challenge for most people. My rational mind finds it necessary to evaluate them, or as I think more appropriate, “Size em’ up quick!”, so that I can somehow determine if they are worthy of my spare change. - We all know the drill, “He’s an ex-convict. He’s lazy. He’s an alcoholic, I not going to let him use my money for more alcohol, or God forbid, drugs.” – There’s a thousand questions that sprint through our minds.

But what about the children, the women and senior adults that we often see working in the intersections? What’s their story? And more importantly, what should be our response? Every day we see equal numbers of children, women and senior adults begging for us to help with life’s basic needs, or so we think. Actually we can never know the truth, other than the fact that their lives through whatever circumstances have been reduced to begging at intersections for our spare change.

So, still begging for your input, if I am going to give away my spare change, who’s the priority and at what point do I stop giving beggars my spare change? – (This beggar stuff is becoming complicated business.) If we tell them that “we don’t have any money”, did we lie to them when we know as fact we could have it simply by driving to the nearest ATM machine? Would that be true if moments earlier we just drove away from Starbucks with our designer’s cup of latte?

Or how about this one? Does our money become “spare change” if we are only holding it to by our kids the latest version of the iPhone, or we’re rolling over to test drive the 09’ Beemer that just arrived in the showroom? When does the money we use to refurnish or renovate our already palatial casas become “spare change”? – Oh boy! What impact could that volume of “spare change” have on the beggars in the intersections? We’ll probably never know, will we?

All of this leads us back to my original question: “At what point do we not give beggars our spare change?” – I suppose the larger question becomes “What is spare your change?”

"Don't store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. Because wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.” – Matthew 6:19-21