This I Believe

In the world of today, where it is all too easy to get caught up in the concept of “me”, we should focus on those less fortunate than our selves. Much progress has been made since the airing of the original “This I Believe” program but there remain many problems that need fixing. Presently it may seem like a far fetched idea that people would help others, but humanity is often surprising. I believe that people are still good at heart; you only have to look to find the good around you. It is easy for the bad things to shadow the good but if one would open one’s eyes then they would see it.

When I was a child Christmas was a magical time of year. I can not deny that I was very spoiled at Christmas; getting far more presents than any one child should get. However I was taught that you should always help out those less fortunate than you. Whether it was giving your last few dollars to Toys for Tots or volunteering at the Home of the Innocence you should always do whatever is in your power to help people. One Christmas many years ago my parents, who actually practiced what they preached, demonstrated this lesson by inviting a family who had lost their home to come and spend Christmas with us.

Elizabeth, Chris, and Joey Fowler moved in with us a week before Christmas. I don’t have any brothers, so when two 10 year old and 8 year old boys moved in with us, I thought my parents were crazy for inviting them. I mentioned this to my mother but all she said was “Wait Molly and you will see.” So I waited and found out that the boys weren’t that bad and that they really appreciated what we gave to them. Secretly my mother and I went shopping for the Fowlers. We bought them Christmas presents from my family to theirs. The I asked my mom if we could buy the boys more presents since I wasn’t sure if Santa would be able to find them at our house and I didn’t want them to feel left out. We left the store with two shopping carts overflowing with presents.

When Christmas day came I had my usual hill of presents from Santa and next to mine were two mountains of toys for the boys containing not only the presents my mom and I bought but also presents from, I assumed, Santa. When I saw the looks on Chris and Joey’s faces I knew that I had done a good thing. Those looks were what my mother had told me to wait for. Knowing that I had helped that family have a merry Christmas had forever locked the lesson of helping into my heart.

As long as there are people like my parents who teach charity and kindness humanity will be good at heart. You can see the goodness all around you; it’s the Angel Trees at the mall or the Shriners standing at the traffic collecting for Kosair. Charity, goodness, kindness, they are all around us if one would only choose to look. The next time you start to doubt humanity go to a food kitchen, or a blood drive. You will see that kindness has not disappeared but has merely become ordinary. This I see and this I believe.