Who are we to say who is ‘lazy’ and who is not? That we, who are certainly not in the position of a beggar, can make a sweeping judgement on someone - based on whether we give them anything or not - is a disgrace. There but for the Grace of God go ourselves, if we take that attitude toward those who are begging on the streets in all weathers. One has to be very careful in making such statements.  This is because life has a very funny way of pulling you down when you least expect.

No one chooses to become a beggar. In fact it is the hardest thing one can do in life. The life choices someone makes can see them take the wrong path, the wrong road to ruination. A person may have everything, a home, a wife, a family and a large circle of friends. They may never be short of money…but one day, it is all gone. 

Recession hits, foreclosures happen, and before you know it, you are the ‘beggar’ that you judged earlier. Indeed, you have become the person that others speak about now, as they are now judging whether or not to ‘give you alms’ as it may make you ‘lazy’ if they did so. How would you feel? Indeed, you would look upon beggars with far different eyes as you may do now.

So, giving what you have to those who do not have, is not hindering them at all. Rather, it is giving them just a little respite from the harsh realities of life. A little piece of heaven, - which everyone deserves - is all they are asking for. And one day, when you stare down upon that beggar, the person staring back could be you.

Sweeping statements of ‘laziness’ fuelled by the right-wing press, rich politicians and people who simply fail to understand or indeed grasp the gravity of the situation, do not help at all. In fact it hinders, and such views see people dying on the streets of rich nations, who can afford to feed and keep warm everyone… but simply do not.

It is to those people, those politicians and those who write for the press who could well see themselves going down the same path as the beggar. Life can be strange and stranger things have happened. Beggars have become an easy target because they simply do not have a voice - a voice loud enough to be heard all the way to the corridors of power. 

So they become easy targets, for easy votes. But to give to someone, because they do not have, what you have, is simply being a true Christian. After all, is that not what Christ asks us all to do, to look after those who cannot look after themselves?

‘Inasmuch as you do this to these, the least of my brethren, you do it to me {Matthew: 25:31:46}

If we are saying that we are a ‘Christian nation’, then why be so uncharitable? It flies in the face of everything that Christ Himself said and stood for, and that everything that this country should stand for.