Hook, Line, and Sinker, Sucker!

I believe I've been taken again, thanks to my overly optimistic desire to trust people. A man showed up at my house today (conveniently, or not so, located right next door to the church) with a seemingly sincere tale of woe, and a desperate need for some cash to get him safely on the road to join his ailing family member, etc., etc., etc. Well, sucker that I am, I gave him some $ and gave him a ride to where he needed to be, with many assurances from him that he would be back to repay me for my kindness in his time of need. Well, I like to believe the best in human nature, so, although I doubted I'd ever see him again, I hoped that he would live up to his word. Surprise above all surprises, he did indeed come back later to repay me! When he walked up to the house the second time and said that he had come to pay me back, I was utterly floored and beginning to praise God for this genuine display of appreciation. (I have helped people before, and NEVER been repaid, but for some foolish reason, I continue to help people in apparent need). So I was amazed and pleased that finally I had helped someone who genuinely needed help, and here they were, back on their feet again, and ready to repay me! Wow! Well, not quite. He pulled out a checkbook, and prepared to write me a check for the amount I had given him, PLUS an extra $ amount that he wanted me to give him additionally right then, to help him get something else taken care of that he needed that night (Sunday, no banks open), and I could cash the check tomorrow and be paid back in full for my generosity. Well, at that point, I was onto the game, and my earlier joy at thinking that here was a genuine person in need came crashing down to reality as I realized that he had duped me once, thought I must be an easy mark, and was now trying to get even more from me. At this point I told him I had helped him all that I could, and didn't have anything else to give him. He insisted on writing a check for the amount I had given him earlier, and I had him write it out to my church, but when he gave it to me, I saw that it was a starter check (no name or address), and I'm confident that it is as rubber as he is crooked. I can't win in these situations, because if I help someone, I can't help but fear that I might have been swindled. And if I don't help someone, I can't help but fear that I might have turned Jesus away in a time of genuine need. Either way, I feel guilty and unsettled whenever this type of situation occurs. The words that guide me are those of the dear grandmother of my DS in seminary, who always lived by this mantra: "Better that I give and they not need, than that they need and I not give." I try to live by these words, but still have a bitter taste from the overwhelming evidence that most of the time someone asks for a handout, they really don't need it.