I luv you man (I need beer)

“I luv you man (I need beer)” said the man's cardboard sign which he held at the edge of an off-ramp.

I didn't judge him or try to fit him into a society-created stereotype of “homeless”; I simply saw a person, another aspect of the same part of the whole, who just like me is one his own journey. What caught my attention was not his appearance, not the fact that he was on that corner, or not even any assumptions of who he may be; but rather what struck me was his honesty. There are people, homeless or not, rich or not, healthy or not, all income ranges, all occupations, all religions, all paths, anywhere and everywhere, who are not honest. Here, now, on this corner, was a simple truth of honesty. I rolled down my window, told the man I appreciated his honesty, and gave him $10 for his beer. It's my hope that Dino (the name he gave me) used it for food, shelter, or whatever else he needs. How many people drove by him, never even giving neither him or that simple truth a single thought? How many people who drove by him may have observed the man; but not the simple truth?

Life is simple. Truth is simple. Many times we look for things only to not find them even when they are right in front of our face. We look for the big things, missing the little things. We look for the tidal waves, ignoring the fact that even such a large thing is made up of little droplets of water. Even those drops of water are made up of atoms, molecules, and like everything else, share the same foundation of etheric energy in All That Is. All things big are made of all things small. While this energy is the smallest of things; it is also the largest. We miss both things because we have vision with blinders on that we do not see the entire spectrum. It is the same with the man on the off-ramp. Often times people have blinders on because of their egoic mind, beliefs, perceptions, and so on. When we remove the egoic mind, when we remove these filters, these blinders, we begin to see what has been before us all along. We notice things like this simple truth of honesty, of the simple truth of our connectedness to All. What things were in motion in order to that man to be there, for me to be there, and what things came from that brief meeting? One thing that comes to mind is this article, as this came from that meeting. Your reading of it also came from that meeting. Did he tell others? Did it make him smile? Was he nicer to someone else because of what transpired between us? I don't know.

You may change someone's entire life with a word, a smile, an opening of the door for someone, the smallest of things is the biggest of things. It's the inner-woven web of the inter-connectedness of everything and everyone. It's challenging to try and comprehend such a vastness as this, but even if we catch a glimpse of it, perhaps that's enough to open doors within ourselves, to begin to take off the blinders and see the simple things, the simple truths, the simple complexity of the spiral dance. Dino's honesty inspired me to write this article, which I turn hope inspires you. We may never know who we touch and how; or even how far our influence reaches other people and in what ways; but I know this simple truth that all are one and all are connected.

Copyright © 2010 Ron Schreiner All Rights Reserved