去年十一月，我开车回家时，来到一个熟悉的十字路口，看到一位无家可归的妇女举着牌子乞讨。我以前见过她很多次，但每次都犹豫不决，没有伸出援手。这一次，我掏出钱包，给了她一些零钱，大部分都是一分钱的硬币，加起来不超过15美分。
我把钱递给她，又仔细检查了一遍车里的各个储物格，然后抱歉地说我没钱再给她了。她没有失望或生气，反而表达了由衷的感激，连声道谢。她说，不管是几分钱还是几美元，都无所谓，积少成多。
在我们短暂的交谈中，她告诉我她的脚很疼。很明显，她并没有向我索取更多——她只是想找个人倾听。于是我倾听了她。
开车离开时，我们短暂相处的时光让我内心暖洋洋的。她摇了摇头，惊叹于我这简单的举动，我也摇了摇头，为她谦逊的感激之情所感动。我立刻想送她一双新鞋，但意识到这不太现实，于是想着送她一双暖和的袜子。
仔细想想，我很快意识到，这个冬天她肯定不是唯一一个难以保暖的人，而且她肯定也不可能是唯一一个脚疼的人。
几天后，我给亲朋好友发邮件，告诉他们我要发起一个冬季袜子捐赠活动。我在工作场所挂了告示，并联系了邻居。我准备了捐赠袋，等着人们陆续捐赠两双袜子，果然，袜子越来越多。
八周时间里，我一共买了84双新冬袜和8副手套。我看着衣柜里满满当当的两大袋购物袋，脸上露出了灿烂的笑容，然后轻轻地告诉我那只渴望已久的小狗，很遗憾，这些东西不是给她的。
大多数捐赠者甚至都不知道促使我进行为期两个月募捐的那次偶遇。有些人捐赠了多达20双。许多是花纹的，也有一些是素色的。还有两双毛茸茸的，系着蝴蝶结。
随着天气转冷，我渐渐不再在她常去的十字路口看到那位无家可归的女士了。我希望她平安温暖，偶尔能有个地方歇歇脚。我在后备箱里放了一双备用袜子，等下次再见到她时给她，也希望能告诉她，她曾帮助过那么多和她一样身处困境的人，给她带来了多么大的帮助。
即使我们没有意识到，我们微小的善举也会积少成多。对于最需要帮助的人来说，一个友善的微笑和倾听的耳朵就能带来莫大的帮助。对于那些拥有一切的人来说，道理也一样。
无论身处何种境地，我们每个人都拥有给予和接受的能力：一张充满心意的卡片、一顿家常便饭、一次开怀大笑、一轮清晨的日出。无论我们拥有15美分还是15美元，财富都不应定义我们的影响力或潜力。
今年与其一味追求“更多”，不如尝试“少即是多”。如何才能更多地展现你真实、充满活力的一面，而不是过度投入、疲惫不堪的一面？如何才能更多地投资于你已经拥有的，而不是投资于社会告诉你的那些能让你变得完整的东西？如何才能更多地分享你的才华，而不是分享你自我认为的缺点？
也许只需要一次对话，也许需要几十次。我们不知道一句简单的“谢谢”会带来怎样的结果，也不知道一句真诚的“你好吗？”会产生怎样的影响。停下来，参与进来，从你现在所处的位置开始。
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Thank you for the thoughtful comments! It's a joy to be a part of such an engaging and open-hearted community.
Warm feet make such a difference and your choice to help others is commendable and easily copied. Thanks for the reminder that little actions can grow into something larger..
Thank you for seeing, listening and doing what you could in that moment and then beyond. And Yes to what Vicky Smith also states, we need to look at the bigger systems and ask how we can change those so that there aren't homeless in the first place. Ah, yes, to also do what we can, even if it seems small, it does make a difference... <3 Hugs from my heart to yours.
I love that Francis of Assisi is quoted here. When I volunteered at a local homeless center here in Sacramento called Francis House, we helped our outdoor neighbors get all sorts of practical help, but one of the greatest gifts we always gave was good, warm socks! }:- ❤️ anonemoose monk
I am on the board of a non-profit that gives out free stuff, including socks. As givers, we all feel good about giving but we're wondering if this is the best way to help others. So I've been doing some research. I just finished reading, Anand Giridharadas, Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World. I'm pondering a few quotes that seem pertinent to this issue:
When help is moved into the private sphere, no matter how efficient we are told it is, the context of the helping is a relationship on inequality: the giver and taker, the helper and the helped, the donor and the recipient. When a society solves a problem politically and systematically, it is expressing the sense of the whole; it is speaking on behalf of every citizen. p262
“Why are there in the world so many people that you need to help in the first place? You should ask yourself: Have your actions contributed at all to that? Have you caused, through your actions, any harm? If yes, the fact that now you are helping some people, however effectively, doesn’t seem to be enough to compensate.” Chiara Cordelli, an Italian political philosopher at the University of Chicago.
[Hide Full Comment]Think of the person who seeks to “change the world” by doing what can be done within a bad system, but who is relatively silent about that system. Such a person, for Cordelli, is putting himself in the difficult moral position of the kindhearted slave master. p259