Sometimes we all come across stories that warm the soul. Here’s one that grabbed me a few weeks back:
New York City can be a tough place to live. According to the latest figures, the city boasts a homeless population of 64,000, while 7.8 per cent of the city’s 8.3 million population are unemployed. In 2012, the Big Apple came top of a poll conducted by “Travel & Leisure” magazine to find America’s least friendly city. If you’re down on your luck, it can be an unforgiving place.
So when a local resident takes on the role of good samaritan, the whole world takes notice.
Mark Bustos is a hair stylist at one of the city’s high-end salons. For the past two years, the 30-year old has spent his weekends walking around New York’s less salubrious neighbourhoods offering free haircuts to homeless men.
He approaches each person with the same phrase: “I’d like to do something nice for you today,” and posts the results on his Instagram page, which has attracted over 100,000 followers, using the hashtag #BeAwesomeToSomebody.
The idea came to Bustos after he visited family members in the Philippines in May 2012. During the trip, he borrowed a chair from a local barber and offered free haircuts to impoverished children. “The feeling was so rewarding, I decided to bring the positive energy back to NYC,” Bustos told the Huffington Post.
Bustos said he always makes sure he cuts people’s hair in very visible public spaces, in the hope that others will be inspired by his act of selflessness.
He hopes, too, that his homeless clients will feel inspired to turn their lives around, boosted by the extra confidence a haircut can bring. Bustos recalled one particularly memorable customer:
“After offering him a haircut and whatever food he wanted to eat, he didn’t have much to say throughout the whole process, until after I showed him what he looked like when I was done … The first thing he said to me was, ‘Do you know anyone that’s hiring?'”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/fashion-and-style/11048200/The-New-York-barber-who-cuts-homeless-mens-hair-for-free.html
Bustos’ girlfriend goes out with him and she gets them the food whilst he cuts their hair.
Does this story put a smile on your face? It does on mine and I’m sure it does on God’s.
When Jesus roamed the earth it seems that’s exactly what he did for most of his three years of ministry until he turned his face towards Jerusalem and his crucifixion. He roamed, he meandered… There didn’t seem to be any “five-point plan” or “three year strategy”. He wandered around speaking and doing random (often amazing!) acts of kindness.
Also, although Jesus asked the disciples whom they thought he was and rated knowledge highly, he seemed more interested in theirs and our actions. Why? Maybe they showed what we truly believed; which values ticked within us; whom we were following.
Personally, I find busyness can get in the way of random acts of kindness and I want to carve out some “vacant” time where I can be prompted by the situation before me to act kindly instead of needing to rush on to next important engagement.
How about you?
Yours because of Jesus – Neil.
