These are lessons from Raymond, the homeless man

Who I met in Missouri, and who helped me

When I was preparing to make my journey by foot.

If you are tuning in late and want to see previous lessons,

Find the playlist on my channel entitled: Raymond Lessons.

Lesson 2: Travel light

Raymond had no more than a backpack.

A hybrid kind, not a back-packers pack

Just slightly larger than a normal backpack,

But with straps.

And for that, it was half empty.

What was inside I am unsure, except he said

He had a bunch of empty little bottles

Cause he drank 100 proof all day.

And he slept on a thin baby blue blanket

Which he bunched up and sinched with a strap.

“If you have too much, they won’t give you a ride,” he said.

“Well, what about my dog,” I asked.

“Oh, that will help,” he said.

“They love that dog far more than they love you,” he said.

“But make sure you have water!” he said,

“For the dog,” that is,

“Lest they worry,

And believe that you’re abusing him.”

“Ok. I will,” I said.

And I thought, “you know, that’s right!”

“That’s just what I had in mind.”

And yet, now that I am on the road,

I have more than that.

Not a whole lot more,

But I don’t think that’s the point.

The little pack represents what I really need.

It is a good image to keep in my mind all the time.”

It allows me to shed when I need to.

And why can I let go of all the rest?

Not because I am a survivalist,

But because I know

That if I need to go through a narrow place

With nothing more than me and my little pack,

That on the other side, there is an unseen providence

Awaiting my arrival to the next phase of God’s abundance.