The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. We have the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Last fall I began reading the Book of Mormon with the prime objective of noting everything pertaining directly to Jesus Christ. I realized that the many times I’ve read it I had been learning the history, the stories and looking for the doctrine that could be of help to me. The time had come to read with Jesus uppermost in my mind and to forget me.
In this focus when I came to Alma 34:28, these verses stood out like they never had before. These verses hit me hard personally. Alma chapter 34, v 28, 29 …
“…if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith. Therefore, if ye do not remember to be charitable, ye are as dross, which the refiners do cast out, (it being of no worth).”
In the days that followed I thought of the woman who stands at the northeast corner of Temple Square in Salt Lake City holding a sign, panhandling. I recalled the many times I had passed her with determination not to look at her. I had heard the city had places and help for panhandlers — giving encouraged panhandling. I passed her steeled and hardened to not notice her. I now felt ashamed.
What ought I to do? I had become uncomfortable relying only on charitable organizations or my fast offerings to be sufficient response. I asked friends and family what they do in like circumstances. I read about charitable organizations and city/county efforts and continued to wonder and be troubled by my hardened behavior. There was something wrong here. Those scriptures did not mince words. They were clear and explicit and timeless.
Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve said,
“As individual members of the Church, you and I participate in the Lord’s ‘own way.’ At least once a month, we fast and pray and contribute generous offerings to funds that enable bishops to disperse aid. This is part of the law of the gospel. Each of us truly can help the poor and the needy, now, and wherever they are. And we, too, will be blessed and protected from apostasy by so doing.”
Fasting and fast offering has been an important part of my life but the woman on the street corner was about my attitude toward her and all others in similar circumstances. ” …if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, . . .”
Elder Nelson further said,
“To care fully for the poor, we must help the poor to change.”
I don’t know how to help the poor to change. I don’t know how to help the panhandlers of the city to change.
Then one autumn day it occurred to me panhandlers have names just as I have a name. I went to her and asked her name. Autumn turned to winter, then Christmas and spring and Easter. Then through the heat of summer and the beginning cooling of autumn once again. I have visited with her as she has stood in all kinds of weather. We now have words of conversation in addition to a small snack bag of roasted almonds and sometimes a quarter. A feeling of friendship has replaced the hardness, replaced by a sense of caring. She has friends that she helps. She has nieces she likes to treat. She has become a person, not a panhandler. We have become neighbors in this big city.
We’ve all got troubles of some sort. Some day when she’s ready I hope she’ll have a permanent home and another job. Perhaps for now her job is helping others like me to change.
Recently, I read in The Salt Lake Tribune of a group of teens from a local church that had similar concerns. They experienced the life of the homeless one Saturday “by spending the day learning what it’s like to live on the streets.” One of the youth learned from his brief experience panhandling, “. . . though his panhandling was only an exercise, it helped him realize how difficult it must be to be a homeless youth with no money, no food, no shelter and only the clothes on your back.”
These youth, like me have changed. We’ve learned that all people have names, they have needs and we’ve learned something of the lives of others in our community. We each can figure out ways to help those in need. We can each help lift another.
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