Where are we to help those who need us?

It's one thing to "occupy." I feel the plight of those who do. It's cold out there, and who are those people who sleep there wrapped in newspapers on St Nicholas' Day? This is the day for children (at least in Germany) to put a shoe in front of the door or under the bed and receive a gift when they are good and a piece of coal when they are bad.

When I was a small child after the Second World War in 1947, it was very cold and we didn't have coals to warm us. No one would dream of giving us coals no matter how naughty we had been. Coal would have been a good gift. We received apples and nuts from the trees in our yard. We also shared them with friends.

What about today? What should we put into a child's shoes on St. Nick's Day? We should leave kindness. We should leave love and forgiveness. We should bake fruitcakes as in the Truman Capote story. We should think of all the grieving children and all the grieving wives. They are all grieving about different things. Some even grieve about America. There was once such promise. Where has it gone? There is talk that the fast train might not be built.

It is now time to think about finding maybe just one person who needs our compassion for just a little while. Give them a call. See if they are still alive. Wonder whether you will miss that person when he is no longer with us!