The Wisdom of a Homeless Man

I know you’re supposed to do this the other way around, but I like to do things a little differently. My family and I watched this movie on Netflix and then I read the book of the true story it is based upon. Same Kind of Different as Me is co-authored by Ron Hall and Denver Moore; Hall, a wealthy art dealer, and Moore, a homeless man, are about as likely a pair as a racehorse and a seahorse, but they are a living example of God working in mysterious ways to bring even the unlikeliest of people together to serve Him.

I promise I won’t ruin the book, but I wanted to share a few passages that really stopped me in my tracks and made me evaluate aspects of my own life.

During one scene in the book, Ron and Denver are at a restaurant together and Denver takes notice of the ten or more keys that Ron has looped together on a key chain. He questions if each key belongs to something that Ron owns. When his response is “yes”, Denver inquires, “Are you sure you own them, or does they own you?” (112).

This brings to mind the verse from Matthew’s gospel when Jesus says, “Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (19:24). If we have too many earthly distractions, to the point of them “owning” us, we shift our focus from God to gaining prestige and status from the material world. We devote less time and attention to our relationship with God because other “priorities” have taken ownership of our lives. Ron even admitted that in that moment, the roles in their relationship changed; the homeless man helped the millionaire! Denver claimed he would never want to trade places with Ron, even for a day; his lack of earthly possessions made extra room for God in his life.

In another section of the book, Denver explains a lesson in faith that being homeless and more available to God taught him. He wrote, “Our limitation is God’s opportunity. When you get all the way to the end of your rope and there ain’t nothin’ you can do, that’s when God takes over” (169). Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve been in plenty of situations that I did not know how I would ever make it through them, but literally by the grace of God, I did. God shows us through these instances that He is always there with us, and that when He walks beside us, there is nothing we can’t do. If we trust Him, even in our most vulnerable times, He will see us through any hardship or obstacle.

These few excerpts are just the tip of the iceberg; I would encourage you to read this incredible story. It is teeming with invaluable life lessons; I believe this real life story shows that having more material wealth than someone else does not make you a richer person. Ron Hall gained wisdom from a homeless man that was more valuable to him than the priceless art he sells. Each person we encounter has something worthwhile to teach us if we’d just give him the chance.

“But I found out everybody’s different – the same kind of different as me. We’re all just regular folks walkin’ down the road God done set in front of us” (235).