One day
I had a dream
God came to me and said
Meet me tomorrow at 4:32 pm
On the bench
In the small park
At the corner of Ashland and Collingwood
Near your home
You have something I want
My first reaction was
Doesn’t God consider all of the riches of the world
As but a penny?!
Doesn’t God consider a thousand years
As but a second?!
What could God possibly
Want from me?!
My second reaction was
Isn’t that time and place
Awefully specific?
I closed shop a little early that next day
And I sat there
In the park
Lots of traffic
But not a soul
It seemed somewhat foolish
Know one there
Accept the neighborhood homeless guy
And, of course, me
So with perpetually bad timing
The homeless man blurts out
Yes, all of the riches of the world are as but a penny!
Yes, a thousand years is as but a second!
So be aware!
Now
A well dressed passerby
Shakes his head
Without breaking his gait
I was stunned
Buy the time
I could
Muster a thought
He was walking away
So I
Blurted out
So, if all of the riches of the world are as but a penny
And a thousand years is as but a second
Can you spare a dime!?
Without turning
He lightly raised his hand
Giving a somewhat dismissive gesture
Just
Saying
Sure
In a sec
This short poem is an elaboration of a joke I once heard. I liked the juxtaposition of the sense of wealth and time from a divine and a human perspective. The “better off” human(s) in this poem find themselves ironically betwixt the divine and “worse off” humans. The joke exposes the gap between God and humans, as well as the gap between “better off” and “worse off” humans. To someone with an immediate need, like the homeless, putting them off temporarily is essentially putting their need off essentially forever. If not now, when? The sad rationale that “better off” persons use regularly is that “the poor will always be with us” (to bastardize Jesus’ words), so we can help them occasionally when it is convenient for us — thanks homeless people for presenting that ongoing opportunity! Unfortunately, this typically falls far short of meeting the need of many persons at any given time.
It is no accident that I wrote and published this poem during the Christmas season. Jesus was a homeless man without worldly riches. If we were to look to Jesus as a model manifestation of humanity and divinity, then celebrating Christmas would look little like modern Christmas, with its commercialization and focus on getting and consumption. For at least centuries, humans have had the resources to meet every basic human need. Yet, a painfully huge proportion of “present day” humans go without basic needs. This fact of abundance stands as an indictment on the scarce and barren worldview that carries the day for most of us much of the time. This is a worthy reality to reflect upon this “present day.”
