By Julie Perrin
Centre for Theology and Ministry
Uniting Church in Australian, Synod Vic Tas

There is a book in the Unichurch Bookshop called ‘The Fear of Beggars’, its cover and blurb were so compelling I bought it immediately. I was attracted to it because it addressed that twisted up response that is at once compelled and afraid when we meet someone begging. The book’s author, Kelly Johnson says, “I see a man holding a sign that reads ‘I am at your mercy’. My normal perception of myself… is thrown into Protean contortions. If he is ‘at my mercy’, then what am I?” Johnson doesn’t promise to answer the question of how one should respond to beggars, but she does give the question a good depth charge. (more…)