Coming Up Short

November 10

“I need a little change for food, “he asks?

“I don’t have any change but I have a dollar.” I hand him a dollar.
“Thanks,” he says, “a hotdog costs $1.49. Do you have fifty cents?”

I bristle. “That’s it, I told you I didn’t have any change,” I say, knowing I have another dollar in my pocket.
He hurries off. I have given to the poor but reluctantly. “God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7) I return to my Bible lying on the park bench and read:

“Freely you have received, freely give.” (Matthew 10:8)