“Thinking good thoughts is not enough, doing good deeds is not enough, seeing others follow your good examples is enough.” Douglas Horton
Reflections: Plant Some Good Deed Seeds…
Small Stones #30
Who came up with the idea
Of random acts of kindness?
It is good for the soul…
For each kindness reverberates
like a pebble in a pond
Spreading far beyond its origins
healing other souls
Good deeds flow…
Tyler grew up in a strict home. His father was abusive and his mom did little to stop the brutal beatings he received from his dad. Over the years, he forced himself to tune out his dad’s rants and imagine himself in an imaginary world. It worked for a while but, as Tyler got older, the pain became so profound that, at 18, he attempted suicide. The physical abuse stopped but not the mental abuse. One day, Tyler decided he’d had enough. He packed what little possessions he owned, and walked out the door. He spent the next 3 years on the streets as a homeless youth.
It was a terrible, dehumanizing experience and he recalls spending many nights at a homeless shelter crying and begging God to let him die. “I’d had enough but something greater than me soon took over.” He said. As serendipity would have it, one cold winter day, he was loitering on 42nd Street begging for cigarettes and God knows what else, when he bumped into an old neighbor, Mrs X. “What you doing out on the streets Tyler? Your mama’s heartbroken!” She said, staring at his tall, dirty, gaunt frame in horror, her mouth wide open. Tyler opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t. He just stood there, on the street corner of 42nd and 9th and wept. More below!
