The last two months in church have been devoted to the topic of charity. Each Sunday I walk away with a renewed commitment to do more to serve others-but that commitment usually wanes by Monday or Tuesday (on a good week). A lady read the lyrics to this song last Sunday and they have really stuck with me.
Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad,
and made someone feel glad?
If not I have failed indeed.
Has anyone's burden been lighter today
because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary
been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?
Then wake up and do something more
than dream of your mansion above.
Doing good is a pleasure,
a joy beyond measure,
a blessing of duty and love.
-Will L. Thompson
Charity seems very doable if I just take it one day at a time, like the song suggests. If anyone else wants to get this song stuck in their head, go to this website and listen away!
On a related note:
Dear Streetcar Diary,
This technically happened on my walk over to the streetcar, but I think it works. A young boy (maybe 16) was standing on the sidewalk near Powell's. He had a sign that said "I need a meal and a place to sleep." As I walked to the streetcar stop I watched as everyone passed him, each person stared at the ground to avoid his gaze. I was fully intending on doing the same, when a man on a bike (obviously homeless himself) stopped to talk to the teenager. As I came upon the two, I heard the man say, "I get free sandwiches from this place downtown. Do you want me to get you one too?" I don't even know what the boy's response was, because it would have required me to stop and stare, but I was so impressed by the man's generosity even amidst his own difficult circumstances. What a great example this guy was to me! He obviously knows the song Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I cheered up the sad,
and made someone feel glad?
If not I have failed indeed.
Has anyone's burden been lighter today
because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary
been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?
Then wake up and do something more
than dream of your mansion above.
Doing good is a pleasure,
a joy beyond measure,
a blessing of duty and love.
-Will L. Thompson
Charity seems very doable if I just take it one day at a time, like the song suggests. If anyone else wants to get this song stuck in their head, go to this website and listen away!
On a related note:
Dear Streetcar Diary,
This technically happened on my walk over to the streetcar, but I think it works. A young boy (maybe 16) was standing on the sidewalk near Powell's. He had a sign that said "I need a meal and a place to sleep." As I walked to the streetcar stop I watched as everyone passed him, each person stared at the ground to avoid his gaze. I was fully intending on doing the same, when a man on a bike (obviously homeless himself) stopped to talk to the teenager. As I came upon the two, I heard the man say, "I get free sandwiches from this place downtown. Do you want me to get you one too?" I don't even know what the boy's response was, because it would have required me to stop and stare, but I was so impressed by the man's generosity even amidst his own difficult circumstances. What a great example this guy was to me! He obviously knows the song Have I done any good in the world today?
1 comment:
Hey,
I am sure that you do plenty of good. I ask myself that question a lot and sometimes the answer is no and sometimes the answer is yes. Just like everything else in life. Just being someone's friend is doing something good each and every day.
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