The Best Meal I Ever Had

What do you do when you are penniless, hungry and tired?  When you have nowhere to call home and no family or friends to help….you are truly at the mercy of your surroundings.  Or are you?

Most people would not survive very long on the streets of a big city.  So what do you do to make the situation better?  Beg, borrow or steal?  Hard to borrow when you have no way to pay it back, stealing will land you in jail or beat to a pulp and begging should be reserved for the truly helpless.

Any situation is what you make of it.  The following story is one way I overcame (with a little help from above) the helplessness of being so hungry I just wanted to sleep and take away the hunger pains.

As you may know from other posts, in the mid-eighties I was homeless, hungry, tired and drifting.  I was in Dallas, Texas and I must have been a site.  I remember it was a bit cold so I was walking around the big city with an orange sleeping bag wrapped around me.  I had nothing of value visible except some rings on my fingers.  They were not worth much at all and my favorite was one that I had hand made in art class when I was in junior high school.  It was oval with imitation turquoise and specks of sea shells surrounding an inner oval with a cross inside.  The others were mere trinkets, a corral ring carved in the shape of a feather, another that looked like it was made of gold leaf…but it was fake gold and I had another that was a simple wood band.  You could get them at any convenience store but the one I made was priceless to me.  Many times I would look at it and the cross inside would give me strength and encourage me to carry on...and trust in my faith.

I must admit that was hard to do when you’re homeless and hungry, but in all those years of traveling I always found a way to survive.  My surroundings were not obstacles, they were opportunities.  Until you turn down the wrong street in a big city anyway.  I had walked smack dab into a street gang and they had their eyes on me and my rings.  I don’t remember the exact words exchanged, I think they realized I was no threat and pretty much just a drifter…but they wanted those rings.

There were eight of them and one of me and in those days I couldn’t have weighed more than 150 pounds…so I deciphered it was better to see another day than end up in the hospital or worse.  One guy in particular wanted those rings…so I gave them up…including the one I had hand made.  They let me walk on…which I did rather quickly before they soon realized what they had was worthless, monetarily anyway.

It was early evening and I was tired and still hungry and had even less to my name now, but at least I still had that puffy sleeping bag to keep me warm.  As I said your surroundings are what you make of them and at that point in my travels I had grown fond of hotels.  Not small motels, but large fancy hotels.  The kind that if you are resourceful enough can provide almost anything a homeless guy would need.  But you had to be careful and watchful for the moments of opportunity that are put before you.

It was the downtown Dallas Hilton, a magnificent building with all the glitz and glamor of a 5 star hotel (back then anyway).  I watched the back area of the hotel…stashed my sleeping bag and snuck in the back maintenance door.  I quickly took a freight elevator as high as it would go…then found an open maids closet to rest.  I remember there were hundreds of towels, sheets, soap, lotion and all kinds of luxuries that would make a homeless guy think he was in Heaven.  But I was in no such state of delusion; I knew exactly where I was and what I needed to do.  I shut and locked the door went to the back of the room, covered myself with sheets and fell fast asleep.     

I woke up sometime after midnight and even though I was now rested I was light headed from hunger, I needed to eat and I didn’t really care what it was.  Little did I know the best meal I ever ate was waiting for me…just moments away.

I found a stairwell that took me to the roof.  Now I must say that a lot of what happened during my drifting days…well just seemed to happen.  I don’t know why I was compelled to go to the roof…but I was determined to find a way up there.  I found the access door and went out on the roof of the hi-rise hotel and all of Dallas was in my vision.  It was a beautiful night and the city lights sparkled along with the stars as I cast my eyes on the most precious site I had seen in a long…long time.

There before me were the remnants of an evening’s dinner party.  There was left over roast beef, rolls, veggies, deserts, coffee, and all sorts of food spread out over dozens of tables and it was there just for the having…and nobody was there to stop me.  I don’t know how long it had been there…and I didn’t care…I ate my fill and kicked back and looked down on the city streets.  When I had rested a bit I had seconds, then thirds, then dessert, then a half a pot of some of the best coffee I ever had.  For a moment there I thought maybe I was in Heaven.

My faith has guided me for many years.  It has been dormant at times, but no matter what I was going thru I knew I could find a quiet place and the Lord would guide me to where I was supposed to be.  I have no doubt that my steps were being guided to that roof top and it was for more than just food.

You see there’s an old saying…the Lord taketh and the Lord giveth, ...it’s what you lose and gain in the process that matters most.  I had lost my most precious ring, but I had found rest and food. 

To this day it is the best meal I ever had…not because it was so tasty…but because it was at a time when I needed it the most…and I learned some valuable lessons along the way.  Your surroundings are not obstacles, they’re opportunities.  Make the best of your world, be resourceful and have faith. 

Have the faith that even when you’re at your lowest in life, you can find a feast…in the waiting.

Bon-appetite…Proverbs 12:28…Luke 12:22-34