King River

One night i asked God for an inspiration for wealth, for i believe that i have been called into the ministry of business, that my wealth not be used for worldly pleasures, but for the purposes of God's kingdom on earth. Success - not by my strength, but truly by the power of God. I said to God, may it begin now, to let the small wealth that i have, not be used for myself, but for the benefit of others.

------------------------------------

On the same night, I was walking east along flinders street in the city to meet up with some people. As i was about to walk past federation square, a small asian man, carrying a small waist bag, approached me and said: "Excuse me, i'm very sorry." (x 4-5) He had a story to tell, so i shifted onto the side of the footpath to hear him speak. He said that he had lost his wallet, along with all his money and identification, and he cannot withdraw from the bank. . He told me that he was originally from queensland, and now....
"I am from cairn-river, not cairns in queensland!"
"What? Is that up where queensland is?"
"Nonono, it is cairn-river." Every time he said 'cairn' of cairn-river, it sounded like a noise a cat scratch would make. Emphasize the c-c-c-c-c-c-c-c.
"Nonono, it is cairn-river, on the border of victoria and new south wales. 600km away from here." He must have said that about 5 times that night. The reason was because i kept on asking where it was.
He said that he'd been in the city for almost two weeks, since a part of the comedy festival. And he went to coles a few times to buy cheap food. He said that when he ask people for assistance, they would ignore him, or be rude to him, or even chase him. I could understand why, because his mongolian english was not very understandable, and neither was his intention.

After 5 minutes of talking to him, i asked in a polite manner: "So what is it that you want again?"
"Excuse me i'm sorry. I need to buy bus ticket to get to cairn-river. It cost $X, and i need to get back. Can you please help me?" Probably what had been happening is that people have been giving this man money in little pieces, that in order to survive, he has to use the money to buy food, and in doing so, his bus ticket money goes down. His name is simon.

I had asked for wealth about 30 minutes ago. A strong feeling came onto me that this was God's test. Analysis: another reason why people had supposedly chased this man is because he looked dodgy. He gave a few pieces of suspicious information, such as he had stayed in the city for two weeks, and that he cannot contact his wife etc. But i could not convince myself that a man in his early 50's would make a living out of telling such a complicated lie. My intuition told me that this man was 85% lying, and 15% telling the truth; of the 85%, 60% he was in real need of money, but the reason was too absurd so he made up a less absurd reason, and 40% he was outright conning people with outlandish and confusing tales. So at least there was an element of goodness of him within my intuition. So I took out my wallet and gave him $x. And i looked him in the eye and said: "Use the money wisely." Only to protect myself from looking stupid, because if he was a conman, he might take the hint from me that i was only feeling sorry for him for begging on the street.

I don't think it mattered whether he was a conman or not, because i believed i had passed the test. 'There is one who scatters, yet increases more; and there is one who withholds more than is right, but it leads to poverty' OR 'One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty'. Just because someone is generous towards someone who had tricked them into giving, doesn't mean that God will withhold his blessings. I believe, because it is the heart that matters.

'Regret' was my word for the 10 minutes i spent talking to the man and it was on my heart the whole night. It was not because i had given $x, but it was because i could have done a lot more with the man than i did. How did i forget? What. was i thinking?

-------------------

I could have done a lot. I could have 1) given him my mobile number and told him to contact me when he reaches home, that way i will know whether i was jibbed or not; 2) walked him to the bus station...; 3) ask him if it was alright if i could stand next to him while he asked people for money, to increase his credibility, it would be quite funny to hear him explain his stories again and again; 4) walk around the city with him and ask people if they could kindly donate to a man in need, and i wouldn't mind doing that because im not the one who is begging for the mercy, plus, if people start chasing the man, i would have a good time chasing those low-quality people; 5) stalk him....

While on a medium-paced walk, having finished talking to the man just a minute ago, my thoughts suddenly came together, and my steps came to a diminuendo. I was in a hurry. Back to the place where i had met a man, and further, to the intersection of swanston and flinders. There weren't many people around, but they were clumped together at the crossings, . I peered down the three directions. 1 > 2 >.... 3. But i saw no sign of simon. I took a final punt, and inquired further into one of the directions. I was too late. I knew that finding him would have been better than doing whatever i was doing in the city that night.

Later on i found out. King river, was the name. I was so curious to know.

to esszek: i will complete yoo-ur post.