I’d like to think
that I’ve done a bit of good
here and there
in the pausings of my life:

maybe a kid or two
who took a liking
to something I taught
in shop class,

a generation or two
I might have helped
by teaching their teachers
how to teach,

an addicted life
or three or eight
that were eased a bit
by my giving long enough

to have touched
and been touched
by some shared wisdom
and grace.

I’d like to think
that my small donation
put a warm meal
in between some hobo

and the next stranger
stopping on the highway
and sparing some sore, tired feet
from a few more miles of walking

in the rain or heat
or the long lingering shadows
of one more day
spent in the aloneness of the world.

I’d like to think
that a few hours
of my working
helped some poor family

I’ll never meet
this side of heaven
have at least one meal to eat
in a new home that they didn’t expect.

I know that there are quite a few kids
that Smile Train and my wife and I
gave a new life in a distant village:
a hope of friends

and an emerging
from the harsh darkness
of disfiguring difference
from cleft palates.

I’d like to think
that a few of my eulogies
brought a bit of hope and comfort
to those caught in the pain of passing

and that maybe a sermon or two
fanned into flame
the embers of faith
and obedient love.

I’d like to think
that I’ve done a few things right,
brought about a better moment or two
for a few folks.

I’d like to think
I might get in a few thousand more
before the night of this world
is swallowed up in light.

And I know
that not all of the good
that I can do
can take away a single sin

but each small act
is at least a beginning
of letting some light
into the world

and a bit less darkness.

It still won’t be enough,
but it will be that much more
than would have been
had I not been blessed

by greater grace than I deserved.

H. Arnett
10/17/13