Okay you guys… time for a few Marti-isms to break in on our discussion. Though I need to warn you that this is a little like an encounter with the ghost of Christmas present in Scrooged, Bill Murray’s clever adaptation of Dickens’ Christmas Carol. She will dance around excitedly on her tiptoes, clap her hands with joy, sprinkle pixie dust on you and then bash you in the head with a toaster. You never know when it’s coming. “Sometimes you have to slap them just to get their attention!”

So here goes, and don’t say I didn’t warn you…

Not all experiences in giving are victorious. Spit and the smell of urine is very offensive, but wasn’t the Lord of Lords born in straw poverty and animal poop? Good thing He wasn’t offended.

To recognize there is no difference between you and someone that is homeless is good, but to embrace that equality and rejoice together is to have an encounter with Christ. And then, to unite is good, but to respect differences, better. Looking into the eyes of someone lost is to find a beautiful reflection of you. The reason we are asked to walk together before the Son is so we can share equally in the cleansing and the refreshing cries of thanksgiving.

It is ok to be glad when you are warm and someone else is cold, it is just not okay to keep him waiting.

See a homeless person as an angel, and know he is watching.

Greet everyone as a guest on his way to the banquet. If you are lucky, he might ask you to join him.

Now, how about your neighbor? Did you hand-deliver a set of candles to brighten up his home? Did you invite him over for a game of charades and give him a chance to see you as vulnerable as he feels? The heck with walking the old lady across the street, take your own sack of bones and walk across the street to give your neighbor a merry note about how much you appreciate him. Laugh out loud because there is more to find that is funny about you than there is about anyone else. Don’t take yourself so seriously. The Lord, if He chooses, will use you when you are most vulnerable—just so the recipient doesn’t get confused about who is the bearer and who is the Christ.

See what I mean? Like Marti says after she hits you with the toaster: “Sometimes the truth is painful, but it makes your cheeks rosy and your eyes bright!”