Blessings from a Beggar

One of the heartbreaking sites in Russia is the many beggars. I see them almost everywhere I go. Some are dirty children with old tattered clothes. Some are men with missing limbs. Others are mothers sitting on the sidewalk with their infants. Surprisingly the hardest for me to see are the old women. These women just stand on the sidewalk with their head down. Their not pushy, their needy. Giving to beggars is not an easy thing to do here. You don't know if the person is actually needy or if it is a scam. Or perhaps they are needy but they are a cover person for an organization and they don't get to keep the money anyway. Sadly most of the time I walk past these people and do nothing. I have been warned many times not to give and there is always a war within me as to what to do. However yesterday I was downtown and I walked past an old lady looking down at the ground. She was holding a plastic cup filled with change. Change in Russia does not amount to much. Her nearly full cup could have been worth less than $5. I walked passed her as I do so many. Then I stopped and turned around. I gave her a very pitiful gift in American standards. She looked at me and touched my arm and spoke a prayer of blessing over me. On the rare ocasion that I give this generaly happens. I don't know why they pray a blessing, it is always different. Perhaps they feel as though they have been blessed and so in return they wish to bless. I think their gift is the greater one.