What if Everyone Loved Raymond?

Disclaimer: My goal in telling you this is not for credit or glory. All credit for this holy moment belongs to God. A few people have asked me why I try to help strangers when I can. If this story encourages even one of you to do the same, then that’s the win I’m after. None of this story is fabricated other than the image that was created by AI haha.

I was starving one evening and stopped at one of my favorite local salad places. As I stepped out of my car, there was Raymond.

Raymond is a blind homeless man who was asking for food.

I’ve had many people tell me not to help people in situations like this because:

a) you’re enabling them, or

b) they’re scammers.

And to be honest, sometimes that is true. There are people struggling with addiction and fraud in this space. I also understand the heartbreak that can come from trying to help someone you cannot permanently fix. Many of us have experienced this even within our own families. I’ve been down that road myself, and at times it really hardened my heart.

The truth is, we cannot solve every problem. Some things are between that person and God. Despite all of our modern achievements, we are not God.

But I do believe the Holy Spirit gives us discernment in the moment to know what we are being asked to do.

That night, Raymond was simply asking for food. I watched three people walk right past him.

I stopped and spoke to Raymond. During the conversation I learned that he wasn’t asking for money. He was disabled, hungry, and just wanted food.

And at that exact moment, feeding Raymond was one small problem that I could solve.

So I bought him dinner.

Another thing I could do was to pray with him. When I handed him the food, I told him this meal wasn’t really from me — it was from the Lord our God.

Then Raymond asked me something harder.

He asked for a ride.

That one gave me pause.

I asked where he needed to go and why. It turned out the bus had stopped running and he needed to get to the shelter before it closed.

Discernment time.

Am I going to put my life at risk to help Raymond? It was a profound question. I took a leap of faith and said yes.

The ride was completely uneventful — except for one thing. When we arrived, Raymond did something unexpected.

He prayed for ME.

Friends, let me ask you something:

Are you walking straight past your opportunity to be a blessing — and to receive one?

A week later I saw Raymond again in a different location. Since he’s blind, he didn’t recognize me. I offered him another ride, and he accepted.

But this ride was different.

Even though Raymond is blind, he knew every street we were on. Not just the street we were driving on — but the cross streets as well. He would call out the turns long before Google Maps did.

It felt as if he could somehow see the city floating in front of us.

When I dropped him off, I was so struck by the experience that I later decided to look up the meaning of the name Raymond.

It means:

“Wise Protector.”

Friends, who is our advocate — our wise protector — who gives us discernment in moments like this?

In times like these?

None other than the Holy Spirit.

I pray that each of you experiences a holy moment like this — a moment where you feel clearly guided to love, to serve, and to see another person the way God sees them.

Because sometimes the greatest blessings we receive are waiting just on the other side of a small act of obedience.

Because you'll never know who Raymond actually is unless you stop, and pay attention.

And if we all did that one small ACT, it might just change the world.

Amen!

Of course the song choice today is going to be: Man in the Mirror by Saint? Michael.. Jackson.