Communion with the Homeless at the Nazarene Church in Berlin
Exploring my Berlin neighborhood and its homeless residents.
Beggars and panhandlers are a common sight in Berlin, enough to provide me with my daily dose of ethical and social quandary. I don’t know whether they are all homeless or why they are begging. One young man who I frequently see during the day near my metro stop, face down prostrate with his open hands held up, has a sign asking for vegan food. Another older man who has no hands sits in the evenings, arms outstretched. I see the same ones now over time, know their routes and their ‘Spiels’ as they ask for money, deposit bottles, donations for the homeless newspaper, or another request. If I gave each one a Euro every time they asked, I would indeed go broke pretty quickly. I spend a lot of time thinking about this.
I read several articles about how to deal compassionately and humanely with panhandlers, and the first suggestion is usually to look them in the eye and acknowledge their humanity, even when saying one could not give money. I had mos…
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