My Little Friend

I have the good fortune of being around a large variety of people all of the time. I can rub shoulders with someone that runs a multi-million corporation for lunch to hanging out with kids or teens who live in both spiritual and monetary poverty. My passion in life is to help the little people see that they can be real people and that those with everything need to see that they are also little people ultimately that are similar to the guy on the corner panhandling. The challenge is that this doesn’t naturally happen.

I had an amazing conversation last night with a second grader; his name is Life, about the notion of having a guilty conscience. Looking back this was a rather in-depth conversation for a kid that is growing up in a tough context. I had asked another one of our teens if he had stolen money from one of my interns via FB messenger. He didn’t respond but asked to come to our tutoring program last night. We had decided to not allow him to come until he either came clean or showed some sense of remorse for what happened.

I have to almost laugh as I asked by second grade friend what he thought about the young teen’s response to my inquiry about the money that had been taken. My little friend quickly told me he could totally sense that this teen was lying and had taken the money regardless of what he had said. So we had a long talk about what really mattered in life. I was taken back by my little friend who shared about his ten daily goals which ranged from respecting his teacher, doing his homework, being nice to his friends, not fighting regardless of the situation and showing real love through actions towards his family. As I’m listening I’m thinking this little guy should be the new voice for how we should live instead of some PhD or media personality.

It would be so easy for me not to have heard my little friend if I hadn’t purposely chosen to take him home last and spend time with him. Too often people with influence and power choose to isolate themselves from what I call the real people like my little friend. It is so easy to get caught up in doing what appears to be good things only to discover in time that we have misplaced our energies and emotions with the wrong endeavor. I’m starting to better understand the difference between doing the good in life versus pursuing what is great and most important.

I reflect often on how the Bible is full of life stories that show how often the person least likely to do the job is the one who is chosen. I know that today’s fascination with looks; background and education make it difficult for someone that comes out of a totally different context to succeed. I recently read the story of Michael Oher through his adoptive families’ eyes. It was a rather humorous story about the rich White Family that goes out of their way to rescue the Black Kid from the hood. The real story is that Michael has rescued them from racism and superiority complex of most that live on the greener side of the hill. (You know how tempting it is to think that the grass is really greener on the other side only to discover too late that it isn’t!)

My real point in writing this is for some of my friends that have means to meet my little friend who I believe can teach them a few things about everyday living. It is too easy to be quick to judge another because of how they look, i.e. my little friend is only in second grade or where they live or their present job or lack of job. I hope that more people will watch are you smarter than a 5^th grader and realize that it’s time to go back to a different type of school, the school of little people with something to say!