Passage Eleven: Making A Difference
I heard a preacher on the radio
Equating all the good we can do
To a speck of ash in the balance,
Compared to what has been done for us.
He may have been right in his proportions,
But I believe he was wrong
In his assessment of the importance
Of that difference in the balance.
A homeless man came to my door at work,
Asking if we had work he could do.
It is my policy to give money
To people on the street who ask for it.
I told him, "We don't have any work for you,
But here's five dollars to buy you lunch."
Just two or three weeks later,
I was getting into my car
And this same man came up to me
And said he wanted to thank me.
He said that giving him that money
Had turned his life around
And that everything was going
Much better now.
And he did not ask for more.
How could five dollars
Turn a life around?
I cannot imagine how
And I cannot imagine that it did,
But it was not a little thing to him.
Something significant had happened.
Little things can tip the balance
And make all the difference in the world
To maybe just one person.
To make that difference,
To be there
When someone needs to be,
And care . . .
There are no words
For how it makes one feel, but blessed.
As long as you are focused on
What you think you lack,
You cannot see all that you are.
That only becomes apparent
When you look at others and their needs
And you go ahead and try to help.
Asking for instructions
Has never worked for me.
Perhaps this is because
There is no one way of doing this.
I ask for guidance and support,
And then do my best,
And I find out in the process,
What my best is.
