Kindness

It is said that Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived.

 

I’m not sure if that is true or not, but that’s what it says in the Old Testament.

 

Wisdom is different from being smart. There are a lot of smart people but there are few that have true wisdom which is basically defined as not only knowing what’s good for you, but applying that knowledge to everyday life.

 

In other words, not only knowing what’s right but doing it. That’s the hard part.

 

I realized this while I was out in Phoenix last week and met Carl.

 

That’s not his real name. It’s just what I call him.

 

Carl lives on the street. He owns one pair of shoes, a pair of dirty pants, a sweatshirt and a water bottle.

 

And a shopping cart full of cardboard boxes.

 

I encountered Carl on Sunday night as my granddaughter and I were coming out of a restaurant.

 

My daughter’s boyfriend is a chef and we had just enjoyed a very expensive meal in his restaurant. It’s the kind of place where someone like Carl would probably not be welcome.

 

I’m kind of surprised that they let us in without first running a credit check.

 

While the women were still inside talking (they’re good at that), me and granddaughter decided to go outside and walk around a little while.

 

It was nearly 10pm when we stepped outside and still stifling hot. More than 110 degrees.

 

As we walked to the edge of the parking lot, I saw a big pile of trash in front of the entrance to the store next door.

 

The store wasn’t closed or abandoned so I thought it was a little odd for them to pile trash right in front of their door.

 

We were about to turn and head back to the restaurant when I saw some movement in the trash pile. Intrigued, we stopped and watched as a man emerged from underneath the boxes and paper and looked our way.

 

My granddaughter noticed and called out, “hello.” The man smiled and then rummaged around in his shopping cart and pulled out a few more dirty cardboard boxes, which he added to the pile of trash.

 

He rolled over and pulled a handful of newspaper up over his head as he settled down on his pallet of old boxes.

 

My granddaughter asked me why the man was sleeping outside and I told her I didn’t know.

 

Why would someone choose to sleep out here? The heat was unbearable.

 

The man stirred again and we backed away. He wasn’t an animal in a zoo. He was a man, just like me. But not like me.

 

I had someplace to go with a soft bed to sleep in. Carl didn’t.

 

My lovely wife and daughter emerged from the restaurant a few minutes later and we drove away. In the air conditioning.

 

I thought about Carl several times over the next few days. What did he want more than anything else?

 

Was it wealth or fame?

 

I knew what Solomon would probably say.

 

Kindness.

 

Anyone could give Carl food or a place to sleep or some new clothes. But when was the last time someone had truly treated him with kindness.

 

We all seek fame or fortune in life. Or peace and tranquillity. But what most of us want is something that people rarely give away without some strings attached.

 

Kindness.

 

Doing something for someone just because they are another human being.

 

Not from a sense of obligation or guilt.

 

Doing it just to show kindness.

 

Life is a hard thing. Everyday, the news is nothing but one horror story followed by an even bigger horror story.

 

People are selfish and cruel. Sometimes it seems they are just looking for a reason to slice away another piece of your dignity.

 

In this world, kindness is a rarity.

 

But if I had to pick one thing I wished for the most in life, it would be that people would just show me kindness. That others could somehow overlook my many faults and shortcomings, the things I didn’t do right, how I disappointed them and treat every day like it was the last one they would ever spend with me.

 

One day, it will be.

 

In this hard and cold world, I think that’s what we all truly crave. To be treated like we’re important when we are not.

 

I am sure that it’s what Carl wanted. It might be the reason he was sleeping on a bed of cardboard boxes in the sweltering Phoenix might.

 

Maybe he had never found any kindness and had just given up. Better to get away from those who are cruel and unforgiving and just sleep in the street.

 

The next day, as we were driving towards the airport to come home, I saw a lot of Carls on the street. People just wandering around, pushing an old shopping cart with all of their worldly belongs or dragging a couple of plastic bags behind them.

 

The one thing I noticed about all of these people is how disheartened they looked. As they shuffled along, they looked down at their feet instead up at the blue sky.

 

I’m not sure what they were looking for but I’d bet one of the things they would love to find is just a little kindness.

 

Just a day when someone didn’t tell them to go somewhere else. A day when they asked for food and weren’t called a drug addict.

 

Just a day when people didn’t look the other way as they passed on the street.

 

A day without scorn.

 

People ask why King Soloman is considered to be so wise. It may be for this one statement alone.

 

“I looked on all the works that my hands had done… and indeed all was vanity.”

 

We work so hard to accumulate wealth and more and more stuff… to leave something with our name on it when we go.

 

Somehow, we think our estate, all the wealth we accumulated during our lives, may change the world after we’re gone.

 

Maybe it will. Maybe it won’t.

 

But I know something that would change the world right now.

 

Simple kindness.

 

For people like Carl. For the people you say you love. For the people you don’t.

 

I missed the opportunity with Carl. I was a coward.

 

I wonder if he will ever find it.