"He cared for the likes of us..."

     “He cared for the likes of us,” was the sentiment expressed in the tears of a young desolate girl to the queen at the funeral of William Booth. And while many reading this do not know the name William Booth or have knowledge of his story, his life reminds us of the power of following our hearts, discrediting the critics, and listening to the voice inside that whispers: “This is why you are here.”
     Mr. Booth was born in Nottingham, England in 1829. At the age of thirteen, he entered an apprenticeship at a local pawn shop to help care for his mother and sisters. And while he did not find enjoyment in his job, it placed him face-to-face with the overlooked issue of poverty in England as well as the humiliation and the acts of cruelty and exploitation that cursed these people’s daily lives.
     Upon completing his internship, Mr. Booth moved to London, got married, and continued to work in the pawn-brokering trade. And it is in London where his desire to address the issue of poverty, his availability to be a part of that change, and accepting his purpose, all collided. But as with most great causes, it did not come without sacrifice...
     While in London, Mr. Booth felt called to become a Methodist minister, believing this path would offer him a means of addressing the issues with the homeless and hungry, but after a number of years and little progress, he denounced himself as a minister.
     He later wrote a book entitled In Darkest England and the Way Out, concerning the issues of the poor and hungry in England – the same people he had witnessed coming in and out of the pawn shops, in torn rags and exhausted from tireless and grueling labor in sweat-shops. He hoped his book would create the change needed. But his efforts with the book were swiftly crushed by critics citing Mr. Booth’s attack against trade unions, of advocating socialism, and of using the popular platform of poverty to merely conceal his desire to share religious beliefs.
     However, it was on a hot July night in 1865, that Mr. Booth found his purpose. Walking home late through the appalling streets of East London, he observed five-year-olds stumbling drunk from local taverns, men fighting in the streets, mothers forcing alcohol down their babies’ throats, and the smell of raw sewage filling the air. And that is when words from his past life as a minister became forefront in his mind – a challenge from Jesus Christ himself:

“I was hungry, and you fed me: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in. Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers, you did for me.”

     Mr. Booth had found his purpose! Soon after this experience, he placed a tent near the slums in East London as a place of refuge. Torches were lit and bells rang to show the way and to get the people’s attention. The message shouted out to the gathering audience was “Come drunk or sober”.
The people did come. The movement did grow. And as it grew, Mr. Booth opened one tent after another to house the growing crowds. Soup kitchens were established and three course meals were provided for pennies. Gifts went to the homeless and to the orphanages. Every Christmas, dinners were distributed throughout the streets of London.
     Later on, Mr. Booth was questioned as to why he did this. His answer? “We saw the need, we saw the people starving, we saw people going about half-naked, people doing sweated labor, and we set about to bring a remedy for these things. We were obligated. There was a compulsion. How could you do anything else?”
     Mr. Booth continued to fight poverty until the end. And the end occurred in 1912. Approximately forty thousand people attended his funeral, including the Queen of England, who sat among the common folk and next to a prostitute who Mr. Booth had helped and had shared the encouraging statement, “When you get to heaven, you’ll have a place of honor.” The only flowers on his casket were three red carnations placed by a young girl able to get close enough to adorn the glass lid.
Until this point, many of you are not familiar with William Booth. But you know his work and have most likely donated to his purpose. And I believe a statement in his later life best sums up his passion and purpose. “However poor you may be, however wretched you may be, however bad you may be, you have two friends. One is Jesus Christ, and the other is The Salvation Army!”
     Therefore, as each holiday season is escorted in by the melodic sounds of a ringing bell outside many of the retail stores across America with someone standing beside a small red bucket collecting donations and sometimes, offering a warm glowing candle and smile, remember William Booth. A man who, in 1865 accepted the challenge of the one whose birthday we celebrate each Christmas - the one who came to teach us how we should really treat one another. And while Mr. Booth’s life ended in 1912, his purpose lives on today, feeding and clothing the poor and hungry in over 100 countries each year.
     However, it was a little girl who attended Mr. Booth’s funeral in 1912 that reminds us of the impact we can have when we follow our hearts. A little girl who paid tribute to Mr. Booth by placing three red carnations on his casket – an underprivileged child whose eyes simply said to the queen, “He cared for the likes of us”.

And that is simply because he saw Jesus in them…


Reference:

1 www.salvationarmy.org
2 Words to Die For, Copyright 2002, Broadman and Holman Publishers.