God’s Love Conveyed
from One to the Other

One cold early morning a brother-initiate who happens to be a bus driver pulled up at one of Brisbane City’s bus stops. It was the end of his run and he was just taking a break before his next run.

At a doorway of one of the city buildings he noticed a man sleeping with only one blanket. Immediately the brother went up to the man and spoke to him. He said lightheartedly, “Are you sleeping out?” The man jokingly replied, “Yeah, camping.” After chatting with him for some time the brother found out that the man was having family troubles and had to leave his home. The man had no money and no where else to go so ended up on the streets.

During the conversation it became apparent to the brother that the man did not have much self-confidence, so he comforted him as best as he could. He also learnt that even though the man had a job, he would not get paid until a few days later. So not only did he have no place to stay but he had no money for food or warm clothing. Thus the brother gave him all the money he had on him, which was $20 (Australian dollar).

The man was happy, relieved, and so grateful. He kept thanking the brother and said he’d pay him back. The brother told him not to worry about repaying him. However, if he really wanted to repay the $20 he could give it to a charity once he had the money or even do the same for someone else.

One early morning about a week later, this same brother saw the same man at around the same bus stop. Although this time he was cleanly shaven and dressed neatly for work. The man remembered the brother and thanked him once again and let him know what he did with the $20. He bought several meals, some clothes and a few blankets from St. Vincent’s (a charitable organization) to help him get through those few days until he received his pay.

After he got his life back in order, he did the same for someone else! He passed on the $20 to someone in need and told that person his story about how he was given $20 during his time of need and was told to pass on the good will when he was able to. So he asked the person to do the same if he could and that person responded with an affirmative “Yes.”

The brother felt quite touched by the man’s actions because he realized by helping the man he had conveyed God’s love and through this, the man displayed new found confidence and felt truly happy to have helped another human being. He went from being a beggar at his desperate moment to the wealthiest man in the world because he had enriched his own soul.