Serving Pancakes or Serving Love??

Dear SoupFriends,

Greetings from the SoupMan!
This past Saturday the SoupMobile, in partnership with the Highland Park United Methodist Church, the Dallas International Street Church and the Step Forward group, put on a huge pancake lunch for 1,000 homeless men and women in South Dallas.

It was unlike any pancake meal you have ever experienced. The SoupMan and his fabulous SoupTeam and over 35 dedicated volunteers rolled up their sleeves and cooked thousands of pancakes, scrambled eggs, omelets made to order, tender sausage and fresh orange juice.

Some people might view the Saturday Pancake Lunch and think, 'well nice going SoupPeople---you did really well and fed a lot of people.' Well true enough---we did feed a lot of people. But if you look deeper the question arises? What were we really serving? 2,000 years ago a man named Jesus walked the planet and he told us to "Feed HIS Sheep." What did he mean? Just food? I don't think so. I think Jesus meant wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy more than food. I think he also meant love, caring, compassion and shelter.

So what were we serving Saturday. Pancakes or Love? The answer is both! Food to feed their bodies and love to feed their souls. Which one was more important? Now that's a question the SoupMan will leave to wiser folk than me. Lets just say that we doled out huge amounts of both food and love.

One thing I know for sure. Its not just enough to serve food to the homeless. Anybody can do that. I believe the Lord expects us to do more than just give them food and then pat ourselves on the back and tell ourselves we did great. If we do not also give them love, then I think we have failed miserably.

The homeless are used to being shunned, ignored and pushed aside. A few people out there even think that the homeless are unworthy of love. Thank heavens Jesus didn't think that way. Because if he did NONE of us would be getting love. Jesus loves us all unconditionally---warts and all. We need to pass on the favor to our homeless men and women. We need to love them unconditionally.
So what were we serving Saturday at the Pancake Lunch! Lots of Food AND Lots of Love!. Now that's what Jesus was talking about!!!

May the Lord bless & keep you all.

Signed, David Timothy, a.k.a. The SoupMan
Executive Director---SoupMobile Inc.