Last night, a man came to our door. A stranger, who stood outside, without words, just looking. We jumped out of our skins and everyone had a momentary panic attack. And as Dad walked over to check out what the matter was, the man, the stranger, he asked for some water. Dad waved him off and shut our wooden door.
And today, thinking about that incident last night, I’m not so sure waving him off was the best thing to do. Remember what Jesus said about feeding the poor and helping our neighbours?
Then again, we have been taught from young to never talk with strangers. Our instinct is self-preservation, and any threat to that, real or imagined, is to protect ourselves. And with all these stories about thefts and killers and stalkers and terrorism, we can never be sure.
Was the stranger genuinely thirsty he had to stop outside our house to ask for a cup of water? Was the stranger trying to be funny and looking for a way to rob us? Was the stranger in his right mind? Was the stranger in need of help?
We’ll never know, because we waved him away.
Perhaps the least we could have done was to give him a cup of water, you think?
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