When Samaritan House asked me to be guest speaker at the luncheon celebrating their fifth anniversary, I told them I had a better idea: Let me interview a person who benefited from Samaritan House. That surely would be the most powerful way to celebrate the ministry that shelters those who have nowhere else to go after they get out of the hospital.

Shame on me – not for the idea but for the assumption I made about the man I was to interview in front of 150 people at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church uptown. Before I actually got to know him, I figured he’d live up to all the false stereotypes we have about the homeless and poor, that he'd show up for our planning breakfast looking like we'd expect a homeless guy to look. You know what I mean. They’re bums, right?

You decide.

Born and raised in North Carolina, he was a college-trained concert violinist, at least before alcohol drove him onto the street. Living for a time in a three-block radius around Wilkinson Boulevard, at one point sleeping under blankets in an abandoned pick-up truck, his mind clouded by booze, he had little use for his violin. Illness, and a beating in a Laundromat, landed him in the hospital. Having no other option when it came time to be released, good fortune landed him at Samaritan House. Go see it for yourself sometime.

The house on the grounds of the Charlotte YWCA on Park Road shelters up to eight men and women, giving them time to rest, gather their strength and find a better option than a shelter or the street. The Saturday morning I dropped by they were enjoying a hot breakfast. The TV was turned to the news. The morning paper was on the table. It felt like a home.

This home turned my friend’s life around.

As he shared during our conversation at the luncheon – all I did was ask one question and off he went – he put the booze behind him, found a job and a place to live and rediscovered the violin, even if the beating he took had left him blind in one eye. That was my friend serenading us at the start of the anniversary gathering. That was him playing Amazing Grace at the close.

We see them on the street – we welcome them to our church through Room In The Inn – and some of us hide behind our false assumptions because it’s easier than hearing their story. It’s easier to label them derelicts than it is to understand that we are all God’s children and that any of us could take a wrong turn. It’s simpler to assume they’ll live the rest of their lives in an abandoned pick-up truck than it is to step up and be a part of bringing God’s redeeming love to the darkest corners.

I thought he was going to be just another guy from the street, and he wound up playing his violin for all to hear.

Samaritan House welcomes the support of congregations, financial and otherwise. The Samaritan Sunday School class at Myers Park United Methodist Church will hold its second annual golf tournament to benefit the ministry on May 17. Details: www.samaritangolf.com.