Hearing, Seeing, Doing

                          1.

I heard a speech the other day given by an
eloquent speaker whose name I can't remember.
           I'll think of it in a minute.
He chose his words very carefully, mannerisms
and movements fit the tone of the talk perfectly
           at just the right moments.
His powerful voice, deep and resonant, made
the words sparkle.  Everyone should hear him.
The topic?  It was, uh...  It was about... It'll
come to me.  But my point is, you should
                 hear his guy!

                           2.

My wife and I went to the movies a couple of
weeks ago and saw one of those digitalized,
action-packed, technologically terrific, out of
this world creations.   Great stuff!
Funny, though, but one scene took me right
out of my seat and sent me back to Missoula.
                Open prairies, far horizons.
Strange, isn't it, how something you see can 
send you skipping back down the corridors
of memory? I must admit that I missed the
middle of the movie because the memory
was so compelling. You ever see something
and momentarily forget where you are
                or what you're doing?

                             3.

Last month my friend invited me to go with
her to a shelter where women and children
sleep if they're homeless.  It was a big, gray
metal structure, like a warehouse, filled with
rows and rows of cots.  We were part of a group
helping out with meals that day and I was
                stirring a big vat of oatmeal
when I felt my shirt sleeve tugged.  For the
next hour I sat on the concrete floor and
talked to with the most beautiful six-year-old
you've ever seen.  She told me stories.  I
told her stories.  She showed me a picture
                of her father who left last year.
She said she missed him very much.  School
was fun, she added, when I get to go.  We
ate oatmeal together, laughed at each others
jokes, wrote our names on pieces of paper
and exchanged them. When her mother called,
just before my friend walked away, she gave
me a big hug and  said, "thank you". 

My world changed that day. 
I changed. 
Everything changed.    
The way I see people.
Value them.
Care about them.

The hug did it.