Gabe's wisdom rather than mine today

Today I am using a blog from one of the greatest guys in the world, my best friend Gabe Riefer. It's an awesome example of mercy and compassion and love, proving once again that love never disappoints and never fails. (Don't ask me why he refers to Mick Jagger as a reverend)

As I make my way home, dejected and alone, contemplating how horribly I hit and how ghastly we played, a dry feeling in the back of my throat begins to grow. Then I feel it; the rumbling of my stomach reminding me how little I have eaten. Up ahead in the distance I see a glowing yellow light. As I grow closer the light begins to take shape, two arches coming together to form the shape of an "M".
Ah yes, McDonald's. Not only can I quench my hunger and thirst, I can also win large sums of money. Say, five million dollars.
I drive in to the parking ot and begin making my way to the drivethru, when out of the corner of my eye I see a man rise and begin walking toward me. I look at him and he stops. I begin to study him: thin, scraggly greasy beard and hair, worn leathery skin, dirty ripped jeans and t-shirt, and a jacket hanging over his fragile body. But it is his eyes that draw my me in. I see in his eyes, pain and hunger. I wave him over and with each step I see his growing hope.
I ask him if there is something I can do for him. All he wants, he tells me in a slurred Southern drawl, is a little spare change, maybe a dollar or two. My heart, now full of compassion for him, begins to speak for me. I tell him I can go through the drivethru and I will get him whatever he wants. Just a burger and some fries. A drink, maybe a Coke or a Sprite? No soda, he replies. He can't drink soda. Makes him sick. I tell him to give me a few moments and I will return to him as soon as I can.
"Go ahead with your order." Okay, a double quarter pounder with cheese, large fries, a Dr Pepper, two double cheese burgers, and two apple pies. "10. 84, drive around to the next window."
I collect the food and drive back over to where my newest dear friend is sitting, shivering in the cool October air. I remove a cheeseburger from the bag and hand him the rest. He looks at me, astounded that a person could even be so kind. I sit with him and eat my cheeseburger, and he begins to tell me his story.
He was born in a small town in Tennessee. His family was never wealthy, had never been wealthy, and, as he said, probably never would be wealthy. He lived there until graduation, when he joined the Army. Fifteen years he spent in the Army, before he was honorable discharged. He then met a woman, fell in love, and got married. They moved to Zephyrhills, Florida, and had lived there nearly seven years when she kicked him out. See, after he left the Army, he didn't know exactly what he was going to do. So while he thought about it, he would drink. The more he thought, the more he drank, until one day he had spent nearly all of the money they had on alcohol. Not knowing what else to do, he began walking until he ended up around Nebraska Avenue and Fowler. He would find places to sleep at night, most of the time behind restaurants or in alleys. He would eat whatever he could find that was edible from dumpsters or garbage cans, and he would ask for spare change. Any change he received went towards a bottle of beer or Jack Daniels. He was a drunk, an alcoholic, and he had no reservations in telling anybody this. Yes, he admitted, drinking had torn his life apart, but he had no idea how to quit or even what to do or how to go about quitting.
He was a man, helpless and hopelessly lost, ashamed of his past but willing to take responsibility for his actions. I told him to walk in the morning down Nebraska to The Salvation Army ARC. There he could have a warm bed to sleep in, a place to wash and shower, and a hot meal. And he could start turning his life around. He shook my hand and thanked me for my kindness. Then with a tear in his eye, which (being a man) he tried to hide, he said, "God bless you."
That hit me hardest of all. God had blessed me that night. He took my desire to win a meaningless prize (albeit five milion dollars), and replaced it with the desire to help a fellow human get his life back on track.
"You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need." -The good Reverend Mick Jagger with some words of wisdom.