ronnie and the bus pass

There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land. Deuteronomy 15:11

last week i went to foodland and saw a middle-aged, blonde woman sitting outside holding a sign which read, "please help. no drugs. no alcohol." on my way out of the store i asked her what kind of help she needed, since her sign was not specific. "just something to eat," she replied. "oh, okay, i'll be right back, i live across the street, my wife is cooking dinner," i said. her eyes lit up.

i packed her food and some snacks and headed back to foodland with jed and kaleb. i took along an invite card to church in case she might be interested and wrote my number on the back in case she needed a ride.

her name was ronnie. she just moved here and was abandoned by her husband. she was staying with a friends place. she went to church (word of life) the day before. she started crying when i gave her the food. i prayed for the food and for her. it was a nice encounter.

yesterday i got a call from ronnie. she found a job as a telemarketer earning $10/hour, but needed help buying a bus pass. a friend was gonna lend her $40 so she needed help with $20 more. i am weary about giving money to strangers, but i liked ronnie. i talked to my wife about it and we agreed that this was a good idea. ronnie said she'd pay me back with her first check, but i didn't want the money back. what ronnie wanted me to do was to meet her in makiki and give her the money. my main concern was that my money went to purchasing an actual bus pass... i didn't want to hand her cash and hope she'd use it the right way. since we weren't at home when she called i told ronnie i'd meet her and her friend at the bus station, where ronnie said the bus passes are only $55. we were making these plans on the fly and it seemed like a waste of time and gas to drive to kalihi when foodland sells bus passes for $60. i called ronnie back and said i'd give her the $20 at foodland, and that i didn't care about the extra $5. she never called back.

that got me to thinking about american idol. i promise there's a connection. i remember one season... i think it was the david archuleta/david cook one. but anyway, they had the fundraiser show where they play the footage of past idol contestants and other celebs going to africa and they ask viewers to donate money. at the end of the show, all the "idols" sang one final song... it was an in-your-face, blatantly obvious chrisitan song. i was perplexed. uncomfortable even. why would an ultra-secular program sing THAT song of all the songs in the world? i believe for the same reason ronnie called me. to appeal to a people in hopes of getting money from them. because not helping the unfortunate may seem un-christian-like, right?

i'm not sure what point i'm trying to make or if there's even a point to make. just my thoughts on recent events in my life and the memories they triggered. be blessed.