I love it when I'm wrong.

Vintage Van Eli Shoes - Aren't they fun?

On the walk home this afternoon, in 102 degree heat, I saw a bird struggling in the gutter. I spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to help the poor thing, then noticed that his tail was broken. I always hear that the worst thing a person can do is touch a wild bird, so I used some nearby brush to help the bird into the shade, hoping perhaps that a few degrees might help the bird to suffer less. The bird wasn't having it. He wanted to stay in the gutter.

A young man was watching me, and pulled out a headphone to talk to me. I said, "He's gonna die. I just wanted to help him die in the shade." This man understood - he showed me empathy! He looked like a gangsta (a completely normal look in my neighborhood), and my gut reaction was that this guy was not going to understand my need to save the bird. But he did! He really did, and now I'm reminded of how much goodness is in the world, and how a lot of the bad-ness is caused by our assumptions and false beliefs.

I wonder what the world would look like if we all believed that everyone was a friend. Is that what Jesus meant when he said, "Love your neighbor as yourself", that we always assume the best in others?