Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Human Kindness

I witnessed something tonight that goes beyond anything that I have ever seen before. It was a simple act of kindness, something that never would have occurred to me to do. I was in my Monday night meeting, this meeting is located in an area of town that's.. Well lets just say it's not the best :) When I arrived, there was a man outside, who was homeless and drinking. I paid him no attention and ducked inside from the cold.About midway through the meeting, the man came in and sat down on the floor. He was obviously drunk, but wanting to escape the cold, he came in to the room. That's when I saw something so beautiful, the closest thing that I've seen to Christ-like love in a very long time. A friend of mine who has been sober for 31 years, got up from his seat, got the man a cup of coffee and a slice of cake, gave it to him and sat back down. He did this without even thinking about it, it was like second nature to him. I remember when the man came in I thought to myself'"there but for the grace of God go I" I was selfishly thinking of myself and my friend was thinking of this man, cold,drunk,homeless and probably miserable. We live in a world where we hide behind computers and our cell phones; we disconnect from one another with text messaging and instant messages. We never really have to make contact with one another. And isn't that what life is really about? The impact that we have on others or that others have on us? When did we lose that? I've seen amazing things in my life. I have wonderful friends and family who have stood by me through the darkness and were there to help lift me into the light. I feel that was what my friend did tonight, he brought some light to this man whom I'm quite sure is living in darkness. We depend on our Internet and cells to get us through each day, when did we stop depending on the kindness of strangers? What I saw tonight was inspiring to me. I want to be better, to do better. To be more humble and not so self absorbed. I have friends who are struggling right now and I'm so grateful that I have the chance to stand up and be a friend to those very special people who are in turmoil. What I saw tonight was God's love in action through a wonderful man.... Someone who I kind of want to be like when I grow up