I found this on the net, not mine, but I lost the guys name that wrote it. The thing is, has anyone ever had a similar experience they would care to write about? This is not up for another argument so please, those of you that love to be disagreeable please refrain from posting! No story, no post :o

"One of the most effective spiritual exercises that we can apply is to see the divinity within everyone around us. That divinity, or sacredness, exists no matter if someone is upset, depressed, sick, old, young, fat, thin….none of these things matter. The flame that we are, unto ourselves, is the same as it has been since the dawning of time, and will be the same a billion years from now. It is up to each of us to be able to see that beyond our concepts, beliefs, faith, judgments and assessments of people all around us, and perhaps most importantly, our assessments and judgments of ourselves. When this is put into practice with people you are angry with, are upsetting to you, or you hold expectations of, no matter what the situation, you also affirm the divinity within yourself and all life.
To illustrate how I learned this for myself, about 20 years ago I began to explore hands-on healing work. During healing sessions I could feel an enormous presence. As energy surged through the conduits of my body, it would reach blocks, developing a dull throb in my hands. At that moment, hands would come onto my hands, and I would look around to see Jesus standing there beside me. This was a common experience for me, happening on a daily basis.

One Sunday afternoon I went to the Farmer’s Market near my mother and father’s house. I walked around with my basket full of goodies, enjoying myself and watching people. Suddenly I saw this old, hunched-over, bedraggled man leaning against a post by a trashcan, looking at his feet, scuffing them in the dirt. Next to him sat his bag full of stuff. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him. People were going way out of their way to avoid this guy, doing their best to ignore him. As I watched him, he lifted his head and looked directly at me with the biggest and bluest eyes I had ever seen. After the initial blast I saw that it was Jesus. This old hunchback was Jesus!

I walked over to Jesus and said, "What are you doing?"
He said, "Nothing."
"Do you mind if I do nothing with you?"
"I guess not," he said.
So, we hung out for a little while, but he kept trying to get me to go away. "Don’t you have things you need to attend to? Your life’s probably pretty busy, you must have lots of important things to do."
"No. What else is there to do besides being here with you?" I answered.
We simply stood for awhile. I liked being in his energy, watching people from his perspective---an old homeless man that just happened to be Jesus! It was interesting to observe people’s judgments and assessments.
I said, "Let’s go for a walk."
"Ok," he said. "But I don’t really want to walk with you because you’ll walk faster than I will. You know, I’m a lot older than you. Besides, you must have important things to do and I don’t want to slow you down."
I said, "That’s no problem. I have nowhere to be except here with you."
So we began to walk around the Farmer’s Market, observing people and being quiet. There was a beautiful love radiating from this man. Wonderful! No one else appeared to see him as anything other than a scruffy old homeless guy toting his bag. As we went along, he suddenly stopped, looked at me and said, "You know, I’m a lot older, what would you do if I was tired and couldn’t walk with you anymore?"
"I would carry you," I replied.
At that, his eyes became especially big and beautiful, filling me with an incredible presence. Just then a group of kids ran in front of me, playing, chasing each other, screaming and yelling. When I turned back, he was gone! There was nothing left except a conspicuously empty space at my right side. It was as though he had evaporated. No one commented on seeing this old guy, and people around me didn’t react as though they had just seen someone evaporate or beam up. I walked around the Farmer’s Market numerous times searching for this guy, and still, even the security guards I spoke to hadn’t seen such a person.
In conclusion: If Jesus were an old homeless man, would you recognize him? Remember that Jesus was a homeless man."

That is a very good story.
I guess it would all depend upon how you weel you are in tune with the spirit.
I would have to say right at this moment I would probable not recognize him.
But hopefully someday soon I will have worked out my inner demons and just maybe I will be able to take my burden off his shoulders.

Kind of reminds me of that song "What if God was one of us".

You touch on a basic tenet of my faith, Christianity. We Christians are called to to exactly that. Not only with homeless people but with all people.

Note: I do not say this to imply that I do so always - so please: no one go rooting for examples of where I've failed at it :o :D

Very nice story Maggie. I have a true story that isn't as poignant as yours but it is what happened. I befriended the homeless people around my office in a downtown of a small city by greeting them, smiling at them, and occasionally sharing a fast food breakfast I picked up with whoever I happen across -- just because or so I thought. I have others who realise this occasionally ask me why. And I tell them I didn't understand at first but now I do and this is why:

One morning I was stopped by a young couple in the middle of the street in front of my office building. It was early, no traffic, no one seemingly awake on the street so we stood there talking. She was clearly pregnant. They looked to me to be at the upper end of homeless.

He told me they were hungry and needed money. I politely pointed out that our local soup kitchen was just around the corner and would open for breakfast in less than an hour. He rudely interrupted my giving directions to push for money. I explained that I was not sure why he needed money when they could be fed very soon for the price of a short walk on a nice morning. He became threatening, stepped in closer and said some loud angry things as his woman stood there glaring.

I am the kind of person that is trusting to a point but I know too well how, in an instant, some very bad stuff can go down. So I now have racing in my mind (along with my heart) certain risk calculations, especially the one trying to gauge if I have to run for my office door, how much time does that give him to do some of that bad stuff bad to me. Just at the point where I think I had better run for it, several homeless peoeple appeared out of nowhere, yelling themselves. It was almost like something out that show, Stomp! And when they got closer we could hear it was about him treating me so badly! I was shocked and overwhlemed at what I would have never guessed possible. The man and woman backed away from me and I hurried into my office, nodded silently to each one as I went.

I'd like to think I would recognise him. As it is, I experience profound pleasure in finding his reflection in others. His and others, too. I wonder if we would all be willing to look to our inner demons, as wolfboy mentions, and not murder him again this time. Wouldn't that be something?

PS - That's one of my favorite songs, NK

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RickJ

You touch on a basic tenet of my faith, Christianity. We Christians are called to to exactly that. Not only with homeless people but with all people.

Note: I do not say this to imply that I do so always - so please: no one go rooting for examples of where I've failed at it :o :D

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I think that is a really worthy endeavor for anybody. You make Christianity attractive and I wish more folks were just like you, Rick.

Magprob: Thank you for the story. I really needed that today, and I appreciated that you shared.

magprob,
Thanks for the very nice story.
I don't know if I would recognize Jesus as an old man or anyone else, but I hope that I would.
I don't know of I would recognize angels who try to look like someone or something else although I have seen angels as angels but always in Church.
When people are begging on the street corner if I am in the right lane I hand them a dollar or two.
When I was going into Kmart one day there was a young couple who looked homeless with a sign that said "Hungry, please help".
So while I was shopping I purchased a large 2 pound bag of dried fruit and nuts which I gave to them when I left.
The young man said thank you and the young lady gave me a smile that lit up her face and for a moment she was very pretty. She almost glowed.
Now I don't know if any of those people were Jesus or angels, but if they were or were not I know I was doing the right thing.
I don't worry about whether the people I give money to will use it for booze or drugs. That is their problem if so.
If per chance I knew that they would use the money for something like that I would not be an enabler for them.
But of course there is no way I could know that about a complete stranger.
I will encourage everyone to help those poor down trodden people that they meet to help them because it is the right thing to do and keep in mind that it is possible that some of those people may be Jesus or angels.
Peace and kindness,
Fred (arcura)

Like you said.

"One of the most effective spiritual exercises that we can apply is to see the divinity within everyone around us. That divinity, or sacredness, exists no matter if someone is upset, depressed, sick, old, young, fat, thin….none of these things matter. The flame that we are, unto ourselves, is the same as it has been since the dawning of time, and will be the same a billion years from now. It is up to each of us to be able to see that beyond our concepts, beliefs, faith, judgments and assessments of people all around us, and perhaps most importantly, our assessments and judgments of ourselves. When this is put into practice with people you are angry with, are upsetting to you, or you hold expectations of, no matter what the situation, you also affirm the divinity within yourself and all life.

Humanity need to evolve and get past all our dogma and doctrine.

People must realize that so much of what we say is the truth, no matter what religion has been corrupted by polotics and so much more.