100 Moral Stories 59
There are times when you feel generous but there are other times that you
just don’t want to be bothered. This was one of those “don’t want to be
bothered times.”
“I hope he doesn’t ask me for any money,” I thought. He didn’t.
He came and sat on the curb in front of the bus
stop but he didn’t look like he could have enough
money to even ride the bus. After a few minutes he
spoke. “That’s a very pretty car,” he said.
He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around
him. His scraggly blond beard keeps more than his face warm.
I said, “Thanks,” and continued wiping off my car.
He sat there quietly as I worked. The expected plea for money never came.
As the silence between us widened something inside said, “Ask him if he needs any help.”
I was sure that he would say “yes” but I held true to the inner voice.
“Do you need any help?” I asked.
He answered in three simple but profound words that I shall never forget. We often look for
wisdom in great men and women. We expect it from those of higher learning and accomplishments.
I expected nothing but an outstretched grimy hand. He spoke the three words that shook me.
“Don’t we all?” he said.
I was feeling high and mighty, successful and important, above a bum in the street, until those
three words hit me like a twelve gauge shotgun. Don’t we all?
I needed help. Maybe not for bus fare or a place to sleep, but I needed help. I reached in my wallet
and gave him not only enough for bus fare, but enough to get a warm meal and shelter for the day.
Those three little words still ring true. No matter how much you have, no matter how much you
have accomplished, you need help too. No matter how little you have, no matter how loaded you
are with problems, even without money or a place to sleep, you can give help.
Even if it’s just a compliment, you can give that. You never know when you may see someone that
appears to have it all. They are waiting on you to give them what they don’t have. A different
perspective on life, a glimpse at something beautiful, a respite from daily chaos, that only you
through a torn world can see.
Maybe the man was just a homeless stranger wandering the streets. Maybe he was more than that.
maybe he was sent by a power that is great and wise, to messenger to a soul too comfortable in
themselves. Maybe God looked down, called an Angel, dressed him like a bum, and then said,
“Go messenger to that man cleaning the car, that man needs help.” Don’t we all?
“.....Even a smile can be charity.....” Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)
