When my husband and I moved to Sacramento, California, from Carson City, Nevada, in 2002, I was shocked at the number of homeless people within the capital city. I decided to pray about how I could help. First of all, I realized that not one of God’s children could truly be homeless, for as the Bible states, “In him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring” (Acts 17:28). This is a quote from the Apostle Paul, and it encompasses all humanity.
In my prayers, I acknowledged the first line of the twenty-third Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” I had to know that not one individual could be deprived of the care and protection of their divine Parent, God. I also prayed with the Lord’s Prayer and the spiritual interpretation of this prayer as given in the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Baker Eddy. In introducing this, she states, “Our Master said, ‘After this manner therefore pray ye,’ and then he gave that prayer which covers all human needs” (p. 16).
In my prayers, the idea came to me that I could offer to buy food for individuals who asked me for money. So, that is what I did. I was never turned down when I let them know that I would buy them a meal instead of giving them money.
