Each Of Us Can Make A Difference In Our Own Way
I read this story on Yahoo yesterday, and it made me immediately think of this quote from Mother Teresa. She said the following..." In this life, we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."
Perhaps you saw this story too. It’s about a man named Steve Weider. Steve is a custodian at Alan Shepard Elementary School in Bourbonnais, Illinois. There was a picture which accompanied the story...and if truth be told, that is really what caught my attention first. The picture showed school children lined up to have Steve sign the children’s yearbook.
In total, all 104 second graders had Steve sign their yearbook, along with over 200 other elementary students. Steve, a father of 4 children, has been a part of the janitorial staff for 15 years now. The kids call him Mr. Steve.
The school district posted the picture on their Facebook page, and then it was picked up by Reddit. So far, the story and picture have reached over 3 million readers.
What I love about the Internet over a newspaper is that you get to read people’s comments to the story. I spent actually more time reading what people had to say than I did reading Steve’s story. Person after person posted stories about how kind and helpful their custodian had been at their school while they were growing up. Some told of being given extra food when they were hungry. Others told of getting the gym opened up so they could play until their parents got home from work. Some told of getting help with their homework. Some told of getting a hug, or a pat on the back when they were lonely, and without a friend.
In his own way, Steve Weider, is his own version of Mother Teresa to the people he encounters.
The media will tell you that only “important people”...”beautiful people”...”powerful people”...”rich people” can have an impact on our world. Nothing could be further the truth. Mother Teresa is the polar opposite of what the media holds up to us as a role model-yet she was able to change the lives of the people the “important people” ignored.
Let me end with another quote from Mother Teresa." It is not the magnitude of our actions, but the amount of love that is put into them that matters."
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