There is a story about a student who studied at Stanford University in 1894 who had no money to pay for his studies. He had grown up in an orphanage.

Together with a friend, he decided to present a concert to collect money, and they invited the famous pianist, Ignacy J. Paderewski, for this purpose. The pianist insisted on a fee of $2000.

Unfortunately, the two friends didn’t manage to sell enough tickets and gave him an envelope with a $1600 promissory note that they would pay the rest one day.

Paderewski tore up the note and returned the money to the guys. He said they should use it to cover their costs and take a further 10% each. He would take what remained as payment for his services.

Twenty years went by, and World War I annihilated Poland. Paderewski, Prime Minister at the time, was urgently looking for food for the displaced 1,5 million Poles.

Out of sheer desperation, he contacted the American food bank asking for help. Its head, Herbert Hoover, who later became President of America, immediately agreed and sent tons of food to Poland.

Paderewski was so grateful that he later travelled to America to thank Hoover in person for this lifesaving action. When Paderewski started thanking Hoover, he immediately stopped him.

Then he said: “You don’t have to thank me, Mister Prime Minister. You probably don’t remember, but years ago you helped two students. I was one of them!”

Wow, what a beautiful story! It reminds me of the saying: “What goes around comes around.” When you do good to others, it is easier for others to do good to you.

But that is not the reason why we do good. We do good because that is what God’s children do. It’s part of our DNA. When you do what God wants you to do, doing good results from that.

But it doesn’t always happen by itself, because we’re still too much part of the world. We’re rather selfish and only do what we enjoy. We choose the road of least resistance.

That is why we have to make an effort to find places where we can make a difference. We must look for places where we can do what we believe and know we should do.

Maybe one day someone will come to us, stop us speaking, and tell us what impact we have made in their lives.

Scripture
James 1:19-27

Reflection
Are you doing?
Are you listening?
Are you showing?

Prayer
Father, I want to do only what You want me to do. I want to do good as well. I also want to make life easier for others and give them some sunshine. Please help me do this. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.