As I walked outside into the cold December winter air, I was greeted by a familiar face, Mr. Roy. I don’t know Roy’s last name and in fact, I don’t really know a lot about him, but I see him all the time – particularly outside of the Cathedral of the Incarnation where I go to Church. He hangs out there a lot and I always say hello when I see him. I was told that he recently managed to get a place of his own. Roy was always described to me as homeless and people at the Cathedral frequently assist Roy with various needs. In these cold, winter months I was glad to hear that Roy had a warm place to live and was making steps in the right direction.

On that December day the week after Christmas I saw Roy in the parking lot outside the church and said hello. Roy looked different that day. He had gotten new teeth which obviously made his smile radiate. I’m not quite sure why, but Roy has always had a soft spot in my heart. As I left Church and spotted him, I said hello and told him Merry Christmas. He asked how my Christmas was and I, in turn asked about his. Roy proceeded to tell me that his place got robbed on Christmas Day. Apparently a woman busted in and took all that he had. Just to keep things in perspective, ‘all that he had’ totaled up to about $500 according to him. Roy saw the woman with his belongings as she ran off, but he wasn’t fast enough to catch her (he gets around pretty slowly).

What Roy said next blew my mind. A man who most everyone recalled as ‘Roy, the homeless man’ had just been robbed of all his belongings and he said to me, “I figured she must have needed it more than me so I’m not going to worry about it.”

I learned such a valuable lesson in life that day as I stood there talking to Roy.

No matter how little we have, there is always someone who has less than us. 

Roy was so detached from his material belongings that it truly seemed not to bother him. I was astounded by his peace as he brushed over that conversation and right into the next. Even more astounding was his joy. Roy was filled with joy and wonderfully kind words that day. He brought tears to my eyes with his kind heart and gentle words of encouragement. I should have been the one offering encouragement to him in that conversation, but Roy just wanted to share the love in his heart and began to pour out all kinds of words of encouragement that he had no idea I needed to hear that day. If only we all could be so detached from material things so as forget about ourselves and focus on bringing joy to others.

How will you bring joy to people in this new year?