I heard recently a man I will call Jim (not his real name) tell me of his experience in a local public park. In Minnesota and Wisconsin during November and December it can get rather cold. Jim told me of walking through a park and seeing a homeless man, lying on a bench. Apparently, this homeless man was somewhat known to Jim in that Jim was aware of his alcohol problem. As he passed, the man asked him for a blanket.
Jim was no stranger to homelessness, for he too had been on the streets for a while in years past. Jim told the man to stay put and he’d be back. So Jim went back to his apartment (he is on Social Security Disability) and came back with a coat and an insulated vest and gave them to the man. The man cried. Jim cried as he told me what had happened.
Let no one ever say to me that only the religiously scrupulous go great deeds of love and alone fulfill the law of God. I have heard too many times of those who may be considered lax in the practice of their faith doing great deeds of love.
Walter Schindler, of Schindler’s List, comes to mind as an example.
So does Jim.
Jim is a good man.
If only we all had the heart of love Jim showed that day.
