The Man on the Bridge

Last week I attended an event in Ottawa called Street Level. Many organizations working with poverty and homelessness were represented at this conference and the goal was to come together to learn from each other, encourage each other and show our government that we still care about the issues. I feel fortunate to have gone.

I found myself being educated on a few different things while at the 4 day conference. I also found it to be an affirmation of the work we do at Siloam Mission. The major thing that seemed to keep popping up was how important real community is in life.

However, I don’t really want to talk about what I learned at the conference right now, I’ll do that later – and more than once I’m sure. What I want to mention at this point in time is something that wasn’t part of the conference at all. I want to tell you a bit about a man I met one afternoon as my husband and I were walking towards the parliament buildings; the man on the bridge.

It would have been easy to miss him; his clothing plain and his face weathered. He didn’t take up much space on the sidewalk as he quietly sat by his neatly displayed art work while sketching a drawing of the Rideau Canal. It was obvious that he didn’t have much and one would think he’d be pushy about it, but instead he patiently waited for others to notice him.

We stopped and chatted for a while. He told tales of travel, employment and loss. He spoke also of the rare passersby that take a moment to admire and possibly purchase one of his drawings. His tremendous talent was indisputable and yet, I found myself wondering if he really created the works of art or if this was all some elaborate scam. In a world that has taught us to be so skeptical, wouldn’t you wonder the same?

After deciding that this man did actually draw the pieces he had for sale and that it really didn’t matter whether he had or not anyway, my husband and I purchased one of the beautiful sketches of the parliament buildings. He cleared my skepticism further when he then offered a second drawing at no cost. He said that art is a way that people can connect and that artistic expression is a gift.

The man on the bridge was an inspiration to me. During our conversation he told us the true gift for him is not when people buy something but that it’s when people stop and talk with him. He said that the gift is when people take a moment out of their lives to notice him and engage with him as a human being.

His genuine longing for attention, his need for human care and his openness to others reminded me, as I often need to be reminded, that “the greatest of these is love”(1 Corinthians 13:13).

When you pass someone on the street, instead of ignoring them out of fear of the unknown, look at them, acknowledge them and perhaps, if it seems appropriate, stop and talk with them. They are people too and, like everyone, they just want to be noticed.


Sarah Enns
Community Education Coordinator and sj101 Coordinator