When I was an impetuous young man, I always had to have the best of everything. The best truck, the best motorcycle, the best clothing, the best, the best, the best of everything. If I didn’t have the best, I would sell what I had and then buy the best. It was a never-ending cycle. Looking back upon that season in my life, I now realize just how selfish and foolish I had been. I just could not settle for anything but the best. Damn, I was spoiled. Not that I don’t have an appreciation for things of quality. I still believe that no matter what it is that I purchase, it should be the best that I can afford, not so much as to impress people around me, but simply because I still believe that it is better to buy something once and buy it right, then it is you have to buy things over and over and over again, because you skimped on quality and bought something that did not work or did not function in a way that you had hoped it would. Quality things last longer, too, as a rule. I always had to buy things brand spanking new as well. Oh, the price I would pay for that new car smell, or the feeling of unwrapping something fresh out of the box. I remember once I bought a brand new Yamaha four-wheeler, which a few people had taken test runs on while it was on display outside the motorcycle shop.

I asked the owner, Mr. John Claire, if I could have one out of the crate instead of the one that had been on display. “It’s brand new!” he stammered in frustration. I accepted the demo model because deep down inside, I knew it did not really make that big of a difference. However, if I could’ve had one right out of the crate, I would have preferred that one instead. Hey, I was paying for a brand new machine, therefore, I felt I should get what I was paying for, and not something that had been passed around by a few other people before it eventually got to me. Fussy fussy fussy! It is amazing how having too much money can mess with our minds and our attitudes. The fact that there were people in the world who are starving for lack of food, and freezing, for lack of clothing was the furthest thing from my mind. You see, I had never really had to work very hard for what I had. In many ways, I had things handed to me on a silver platter. How could I have appreciated what it took to make the money, never mind save the money, to buy the expensive things that I took for granted? Now that I have been around many, many people who are grateful for even the littlest things, I have learned to whistle a different tune. Have you ever tried hanging around a man who was so poor that he rooted through garbage cans in front of your very face, searching for any tidbit of nutrition to fill his empty stomach? It has a way of leaving an impression on you, trust me. Next time you snivel about something not being cooked properly or not tasting just right, think again. You are very blessed that you have anything to eat at all. Maybe you think that you deserve good things because you’ve worked so hard to get them. Guess again. Did you ever stop to think that maybe it was not totally because of your magic that you ever received the blessings that you have? Did you ever actually stop and truly praise God for granting you the health and the opportunities and all the other things outside of your control that enabled you to seize the opportunities that were presented to you? Perhaps that is because in your little world, God doesn’t fit. Perhaps in your little kingdom, there is only one God that fits on the throne, and that is yourself. Have you ever been so sick that you have gladly given up everything you own to receive your clean bill of health back? Pray that it does happen to you. Only then will you understand how fragile and vulnerable you really are. Then maybe, just maybe, you will begin to see the light. I once knew a man who had a great tan on his face from staring up his own rear end because he thought the sun shone out of it. He would thump his chest, proclaiming that he was entitled to enjoy all the good things that he had in life. He also looked down on anybody that he did not consider worthy of him and his respect. One day, after taking a pile of photographs for him while he taught a group of boys how to play basketball, at no charge, I might add, I asked if he would share some leftover sandwiches with me from the day’s lunch. He asked me where they were going to go, upon which I informed him that I was going to share them with some of my friends who live under the stars. He instantly blurted out, “I’m not gonna share this food with any street people.”. The fact that I had spent a whole day taking fantastic pictures of him teaching his kids all about basketball meant absolutely nothing to him. He could not even do me that one tiny favor. I never looked at that man again in the way that I once did. It was a defining moment in our relationship. It was not long afterwards that he advised me that I should start hanging around some “Real People”, instead of my many unsheltered friends. That did it. I wholeheartedly took his advice. I never saw him again.