On a day like today

The newspaper carried a very interesting story today.
In a middle of a weekend - somehow lost between accounting,economics,marketing prereads and what can only qualify as the worst statistics nightmare in my life - I had to pause and think ..and as usual I had to thank the skies for perspective and shake my head in silence.

So here goes :

There was a convict in a maximum security prison in Nashville, TN on death row. The night before his execution - he made a last wish. He said that his last wish was that pizza be donated to one homeless person in downtown Nashville.
Hundreds of donations came through that night if you went to downtown Nashville - you would fine a ton of happy people who usually do without much less anything - leave alone some nice greasy pizza enjoying their triangles of cheese.
As for our guy- He was executed the next morning.

I thought of several things when I read this story - order notwithstanding.
I thought about it late at night as coffee cravings struck and the rising steam from my coffee cup disappeared into the dry air in Hbad - much like my thoughts dissipating on a moonless summer night.
I thought that if I had been in his place - I would have probably made a last wish to eat some pizza myself. I know how terrible that sounds - but thats the cold and brutal truth of it. I cant say that with certainty - but then I've never been in prison either.
Not this guy though - I dont know what he was in prison for. But whatever the stakes were - he changed that. He changed that even as he knew with far more certainty than the rest of us - what the next day was going to bring.
So many times in my life - I've fed myself a story that "Change is good" "It may be hard now - but its for tomorrow" ....I guess my life has revolved around doing the right thing for the wrong reason most of the times - would I really change ? ..put thought ,effort , sacrifice into it - were I to know that there may infact be no tomorrow ? ..talk about a lack of direction.
What ever this guy did - before he went to prison - he changed that - if just a minuscule bit that night last week. Maybe - just maybe ...some poor soul who had given up on goodness on the mean street and was contemplating something dark and sinister - got a slice of pizza and thought maybe it was worthwhile make peace with the world - if only for a bit. Maybe several lives changed because of that.

Its true what they say isnt it - that there was no such thing as good people and bad people - In the end people are just people - and even the smallest act of kindness by someone can give meaning to a whole new life.

So I guess this weekend in the May of 2007 , on a quiet night where there is no moon,no breeze and much less cheer- I'm going to sign off with a wish myself.
I am going to pray that even though the world may not always be kind to us - we find the strength to be kind to each other.
Thank God I have enough.