Vegas Love Letters

"Whatcha doin'?  Handin' out love letters?"  teased the third beggar on the bridge.  "I am!" was my reply.  The mornings of my Vegas vacation didn't belong to me.  I had given them to God.  There were two overpasses along my route that, by nine o'clock, would each have at least four homeless men with cardboard signs and styrofoam cups.  My mission was to look them in the eyes, tell them "Good morning", and place a gift in their meager collection of coins.  If they seemed open to conversation, I'd tell them my name and ask them theirs.  Only one man was hesitant to say his name.  He tilted his head, squinted one eye, and finally said, "I'm John".  As he started to laugh, I did too, and said, "I bet you're not!"  He was the one that asked for a love letter.  Up until that point, I hadn't called my gifts by that name, but "John" was right.  They were love letters from the Bible, words of encouragement from the mouth of Jesus.  No condemnation, just love.

Inside each folded note, was a quarter or a dollar, so I sometimes would say, "I have a gift for you.  Will you promise to read it?"  They always said they would, and even though I told them how little money was in the letter, they were grateful.  It was never the same people, either, so I had met over 30 different souls on my walks.  I was touched by the fact that not one of them had averted my eyes.  Their eye contact created a connection that took away all judgement and blame.  One young man, with a remarkable resemblance to pictures of Jesus, with watery blue eyes and a scorched sidewalk tan, said quietly, "I don't care how much you gave me, I appreciate that you stopped.  No one ever stops."  It took me a while to recover from that encounter.

If you're a follower of this blog, then you know that my posts are simply whatever is on my mind when it's time to write.   It's not meant to be a "selfie" story.  This story is for the people I wrote about, and I certainly didn't stop for everyone.  There were too many, and the numbers grew as the day progressed, so I hardly put a dent in the cause.  Hopefully, you'll join me in praying for a miracle for all of those who need one, and just maybe, leave someone a love letter.

This water-sprayed sea glass photo is called, "On Eagle's Wings".  If you know where I found this title, you know why I chose it.