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If Jesus had walked the streets of Chicago (where I live), I think he would have paid a buck or two to buy whatever it was the street vendors were selling.

I am not so generous this particular summer evening. In fact, I'm quite annoyed at the red rose that is stuck in my face by a young man who looks like he hasn't seen bed or bath in months.

I turn the other way.

"Probably belongs to a cult," I tell myself, "wanting me to contribute. Or a drunk needing money for another bottle."

But before I have too long to ponder, my husband reaches out, takes the rose, pays the three dollars, then hands me the flower, which I discover to my dismay isn't even real.

Taken in. And by a plastic rose at that! Now for sure I'm annoyed.

I stick the rose in my purse and forget about it until we get home and I'm unloading my bag. I'm about to toss the flower into the garbage when I notice a cream-colored note attached to the stem. Out of curiosity, I open and read:

Dear Friend: Thank you for being my friend. (I gulp at that line.) I am trying to earn enough money to go to college. And you have shown you are my friend by helping me. I want to write and publish poetry someday. Here is a poem I've written to celebrate friendship …

Sincerely, (And he had signed his name.)

I don't know whether we were taken in or not. But I do think Jesus would probably have bought that rose. Because he did something similar one day to a woman who was not considered by the Pharisees to be the right kind of woman.

When the woman brought her alabaster jar of perfume to wash Jesus' feet, Jesus said to her, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace" (Luke 7:40). He accepted her.

He always gave people a chance—even when they didn't appear deserving.

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