"The eradication of hunger is not just an end in itself; it is a key step towards a fairer, more secure world; for a hungry man is not a free man." - Kofi Anan
Let me tell you a story about something that happened last Thursday. It was a day of awful weather here in Newport. Chilly, pouring rain, with driving wind and I was out doing errands for my business. I had jut left Verizon and was on my way to the public library to drop off some books and was excited I had spent jut under my budget that morning which meant I had enough left over to grab some lunch, and I was hungry. I was coming up on an intersection when it started to rain, hard. I saw a man standing there with a sign saying "homeless Iraq veteran. Hungry - please help." There was a woman in a huge SUV in the lane next to me also stopping at this intersection. She rolled up her window2 and put her hand over her eyes to shield her vision... not from sun - no... from the homeless, hungry man. She was talking on her phone and I assume she didn't want to look at this man asking for help. It was an ugly moment for humanity. The man put his head down and turned away from her. I was in the lane to the left and over the4 next 30 seconds or so I got so pissed off. I did something unusual - I put my right blinker on and pulled in front of the SUV - blocking her and half the intersection too. When the light turned green I pulled forward about 6 feet and put my flashers on. I stopped the car and got out - reaching in my pocket I thought I had a dollar or 2. I pulled out $11 (my lunch money) and grabbed the umbrella from my door. I handed him the money and umbrella, gave him a hug and said - don't lose hope my friend." I had stropped traffic and nobody was honking their horn at me in that moment. A man in his car in front of me put his hand out the window and gave me a thumbs up. I wanted to give the woman in the SUV the middle finger but I resisted the temptation. Instead I got back in my car and turned the music up - the man started sobbing as I pulled away. And my eyes started to fill up with tears too. But I felt good. I hadn't thought ahead - I had no plan when I got out of my car. I reached in my pocket and gave everything I had. Why? Because he was asking for help. In that moment I didn't hesitate and for that I am grateful. You see I didn't just hand him $11 and an umbrella - I handed him some hope and I hugged him like a friend. I believe in my heart that I gave him some hope - ad that is a gift you can't put a price on.
I got home and got online and what do I see? It's World Food day! Who knew? Apparently I did. I started working on a post immediately and spent the after noon sharing World Food Day posts and photos. I tweeted a lot - and made a collage for the blog. That night I was watching Kofi Anan online and shared his tweets - I responded to of them saying I believed we were trying to accomplish the same things in life - I was simply in the U.S., 33 and serving a different population and said how much of an inspiration he was for me that day. Low and behold, Mr. Kofi Ana re-tweeted it an hour later. Cool huh? And that my friends was how I spent World food day 2014.
Today I sharpen my discernment and cut through illusion with the sword of truth. Cutting through illusion takes a discerning eye, a sharp mind and an open heart. I wish all of these for you dear friend.
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