Wow, talk about being super confronted about a passage in the bible. Do you ever get that gut-twisting feeling that as hard as you try to avoid, you just can't seem to run from it. So I've been traveling throughout Italy the past week with my family. We've been a part of a Disney-guided group and it really has been awesome, the Disney magic has been there the whole way through so far. Now there have been some changes to get used to, from traveling with a large group of people, to being able to eat ice cream every night, to actually sleeping in a nice bed. Sure those things have been fun, but there's also been this uneasy feeling in the back of my gut this whole time that I haven't fully been able to get rid of - and I think I just started to figure out what is causing it...

Over the past few days, we've done a ton of walking and have seen some incredible sights - from everything throughout Rome and the Vatican and now venturing into Florence. We've witnessed some of the incredible art and architecture, we've been able to taste the famous Italian cuisine, and along the way meet some wonderful people. But at the same time, I've found that it is much easier to ignore certain other people because of the whole experience. Now I didn't realize this at the time, and it took a song to really call me out on it.

Seventh Day Slumber has a song that is a lyrical form of the passage Matthew 25 and goes like this. Really take a few minutes to listen to the song.

I call myself a man of god, while laughing at my brother
I crossed the heart of a hungry man instead of giving him some bread
And what I say and what I do, they're not the same anymore
Who I slain, who I betray, lord have mercy on my soul
You were hungry, you were thirsty, you were lonely, you were cold
You were hurting, you were dying, and I just left you all alone

Watched a mother who had her children they're all three crying out for help
No one heard them, and I just passed them, and I screamed lady get a job
She took her own life, under the bridge that day, while her children sat and cried
I could have told her about my loving father, instead I spit in Jesus face, when I heard her voice

What you do unto the least of them, you do unto me
And when you see one of my hurting children, I want you to see me
Cause I was hungry, and I was thirsty, I was lonely, I was cold
That was me hurting, that was me dying, and you just left me all alone

I call myself a man of god, while laughing at my brother...

So as we've been passing through different areas of Italy, we've come across a lot of beggars on the streets, which is something I haven't crossed that much over the last year. Being a part of a tour group or with my entire family, I found it so much easier to walk by without stopping. When I'm traveling alone, it's not that I'm more aware of what's around me, but rather that I have no excuse to ignore what's around me. Being with a larger group (whether that's a family or tour group) I find myself justifying why I'm not able to stop and do something.

I crossed the heart of a hungry man instead of giving him some bread
And what I say and what I do, they're not the same anymore

And as fascinating as it was to think about the skill needed to build something like the Colosseum, the longer I walked around the Rome, the less I thought about the construction and the more I thought about how these same beggars have been here since the days when they were constructing the Colosseum. The song challenges us to see Jesus any time we see one of those among us hurting, suffering, or struggling. What do you see when you pass by those people on the street? Do you really see Jesus - I can't say I always do. I see them and start trying to figure out if it's a legitimate plea, what their back story is, and whether I can afford or have the right bills to donate. And typically all that thought process results in me already ten steps past and thinking it's too late to do anything about.

I guess I don't have as good of vision as I once thought.

But if we think about the fact that those beggars have been there throughout history, we can also see that Jesus and the work he desires to be done has been there all along as well. He's just waiting for the rest of us to open our eyes to him - Jesus is living in the poverty all around us, but what are we doing about it...

When I got back to the bus today and opened my computer to start writing, I flipped open the screen which has a huge sticker on it that says "Walk in Love." It was a Christmas gift and an awesome reminder in how to live our lives. But perhaps we need to stop walking and start sitting, eating, and dwelling in love - it's easy to focus on walking in love so much that we pass right by those who need it most. Maybe I should add some verbs to that sticker...

Take a second to really think about the hungry, thirsty, lonely, cold, hurting and dying around you - put a name to their face. Now go and read Matthew 25 and try and flip the page, I dare you. Are we really living like Jesus called us to live? What are we doing for them, and what if we can't even think of a name? I know my bookmark is stuck on Matthew 25, I'll let you know once I flip the page...