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,” which I hand him.

“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.The man 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)