A Breeze of Good Deeds #14: Prayers for a Stranger

Seated in front of the jeepney heading to RP from Intramuros, Boyet and I were disrupted by a small pile of people along M.H. del Pilar St. The driver stopped the jeepney, prying over the commotion. We had a good glimpse of what was happening at that moment. We saw a man lying on the stairs of a certain establishment. His clothes were dirty and torn. His mouth was open. His one hand was over his stomach, the other was touching the floor. Besides him were a filthy knapsack and pieces of plastic bags.

I forgot one significant detail.

The man was lifeless.

We didn’t talk about it until we went home. And when I opened it up, Boyet’s mood changed. He begged not to talk about it. But he encouraged me to share the story to others.

That man is just one of the many faces of poverty. His death is certainly not the first. I don’t have the slightest idea what kind of a person he was. Was he a mean person to deserve such fate? If he was, then let’s pray that he had the chance, even on his last breath to repent and accept God’s love and forgiveness.

My father told me that the man was probably a good person because he chose to die of starvation instead of stealing and doing wicked things to other people. Let us pray that he is now resting where hunger and sufferings have no place.

The irony of it all:

Some people feast on caviar and wine. Others die struggling to even have some grains of rice.

Some people choose hunger over stealing. Others steal in spite of their abundance.