{"id":1213,"date":"2011-02-17T15:01:35","date_gmt":"2011-02-17T20:01:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/?p=1213"},"modified":"2014-02-01T23:04:35","modified_gmt":"2014-02-02T04:04:35","slug":"a-different-look-at-%e2%80%9cthere-but-for-the-grace-of-god-go-i%e2%80%9d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/?p=1213","title":{"rendered":"A different look at, \u201cThere but for the grace of God go I\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Grace<\/a>by Robert Gillis<\/em>
\nPublished in the Foxboro Reporter and Boston City paper, 12\/2010<\/em><\/p>\n

In my years working in Boston, I\u2019ve seen many homeless people and people very down on their luck, and of course the scammers who pretend to be in need (such as the unforgettable woman in the weird hat who told me the same \u201cLost my purse and can\u2019t go to the police\u201d story twice in three months.<\/p>\n

Scammers aside, homelessness and need are readily apparent in Boston (and also Foxboro), and I try to help when I can.<\/p>\n

My \u201chelp\u201d is very small; a little change, a sandwich or coffee, or some kind words. Many days, I don\u2019t have the means to help, and I hope someone else can offer assistance. And to be honest, although I feel like a creep for doing it, there are days when I don\u2019t want to face the problem — so I cross the street, or don\u2019t make eye contact as I walk by. I feel bad doing that, but no one can help everyone, and many days I\u2019m mired in my own concerns.<\/p>\n

But on the giving side, I do try to help when I can. I\u2019ve befriended a homeless man named John, who grew up in West Roxbury and has a wicked sense of humor. I like talking to him. I try to help him by buying the \u201cSpare Change<\/a>\u201d newspaper he sells for $1.00 and cup of coffee when I can. Sometimes we just chat for a while. Another guy named Paul is often asking for help to get something to eat; I help him if I can. Of course, there are hundreds of others I can\u2019t help.
\nBut my sister and I were taught from a young age by Mom and Dad to be generous to those less fortunate. Much of that comes from how my parents were raised (to be generous and help others), and also from real-life experience: while never homeless or hungry, my family was on welfare for three years when Dad was too sick from his developing cancer, and Mom needed to take care of us because we were still little. We never went to bed hungry and always had heat, but we were poor.<\/p>\n

The church (Saint Kevin) was very generous to us with toys and clothes at Christmas and other times. We\u2019ve never forgotten that kindness. We have always tried to \u201cPay it forward.\u201d Since that time, Mom continues to be generous to those in need and the church, and it\u2019s a lesson she taught us well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere but for the grace of God go I,\u201d many people say when they help others. One dictionary defines this saying as, \u201cA recognition that others’ misfortune could be one’s own, if it weren’t for the blessing\/kindness\/luck bestowed by fate or the Divine,\u201d and that\u2019s my problem with the saying.<\/p>\n

See, for me, if one says, \u201cThere but for the grace of God go I,\u201d it implies that God has blessed the person saying that MORE than the person who is, say, sleeping in a doorway. We watch the news and see a fire or earthquake and say, \u201cThere but for the grace of God go I.\u201d<\/p>\n

While most people who say that are just counting their blessings and mean well, the fact that you were NOT in a disaster doesn\u2019t mean God is favoring you more highly than anyone else. Bad things do happen to good people. No one who is injured or suffers a disaster has fallen from His grace. I think God works differently than that.<\/p>\n

I look at, \u201cThere but for the grace of God go I,\u201d as a message, a reminder, and a call to assist if possible.<\/p>\n

To further illustrate my thought, take today\u2019s real-life example. As I write these words it\u2019s early afternoon on December 15. It\u2019s 22 degrees outside. The wind-chill is 5 above. It is brutally cold outside, quite normal for this time of year.<\/p>\n

A half hour ago I saw a woman standing on Arch Street asking for change to get something to eat. She\u2019s for real; the scammers are not out in this weather. And NO ONE sleeps in a doorway outside in brutal winter by CHOICE.<\/p>\n

I fished for some change in my pocket and it hit me: HELP HER.<\/p>\n

So I gave her $10 for lunch. Ten dollars is far, far more than I hand out to anyone on a regular basis, but something about this situation said that was the right amount to give.<\/p>\n

She thanked me, said, \u201cGod bless you,\u201d and I wished her a Merry Christmas. She went to the deli and bought her lunch and went on her way.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t relate this incident so you can what a great guy I am \u2013 I assure you I am not. But I had the ability to help someone in need, and just for this moment, make things a little better. I don\u2019t have a solution to her life\u2019s problems or homelessness, but I believe God\u2019s grace directed me to the right place at the right time, where I had the ABILITY to do something, if only for a moment.<\/p>\n

See, for me, it\u2019s not, \u201cThere BUT for the grace of God go I,\u201d it\u2019s \u201cThere BECAUSE of the grace of God go I, to help if I can.\u201d There, because of God\u2019s grace, I took a left instead of a right, encountered that woman, and at that moment had funds in my pocket to help her.<\/p>\n

None of us can change the world, cure hunger, stop war or solve the homeless crisis. Many of us don\u2019t even have the resources to donate any money, or even time because of our own situation.<\/p>\n

But thanks to God\u2019s grace, we CAN perform small acts of kindness with each other, and that is a very good start, not just at this time of the year, but always.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Robert Gillis Published in the Foxboro Reporter and Boston City paper, 12\/2010 In my years working in Boston, I\u2019ve seen many homeless people and people very down on their luck, and of course the scammers who pretend to be in need (such as the unforgettable woman in the weird hat who told me the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[158],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gratitude-and-giving"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1213\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.robertxgillis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}