I got to meet a wonderful person the other day. I had stopped to
buy a local newspaper from a machine when I saw a middle-aged
lady already there. She had a handful of quarters and was slowly
buying paper after paper gently closing the machine after each
purchase. She smiled at me and explained that her daughter's
picture was in the paper. She was getting copies for all the
members of her extended family.
When she turned to leave I noticed a hole in her shoe and
realized that the rest of her clothes had also seen better days.
She climbed into her rusty, 20 year old pick-up truck and after
30 seconds of trying finally got it started. She smiled at me
again and waved as she drove off. It occurred to me as she
disappeared in the distance that she had never once thought
of taking the extra papers she needed while only paying for
one. It was then that I realized I had just met one of the
richest people in the world.
I only wish that everyone in this world had this lady's wisdom
and wealth. She was rich beyond measure in all the important
things in life. She was rich in honesty, integrity, goodness,
kindness, cheerfulness, joy, and love. She was rich in family
and in friends. She was rich most of all in oneness with God.
It didn't matter if her truck was old, her clothes were worn,
and her dollars were few. She was rich in her heart and soul,
and she possessed within her the wealth of an entire Kingdom:
the Kingdom of Heaven.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.
-- C 2006 Josephson Institute of Ethics

