After reading an article about one of my local sports broadcaster’s struggle and eventual successful search to find a kidney donor for his renal failure, I decided to send him a message. I simply let him know that his voice impacted my childhood. My brother and I would listen to all of the games, and pretend to be him. We even sat behind him at most of the games he broadcasted, but never met face to face.
That evening, I received a message back from him. He wrote, “I’ve been overwhelmed and humbled by people’s response to my dilemma. It’s a blessing to realize I had an incredible impact on people. It is more than I could have imagined.”
Two minutes after receiving this, I was in an Uber. In casual conversation, the driver, in his early 30s, began telling me that he had a kidney transplant and the donor was his mother.
There is little chance that I will ever see these two individuals again, yet a few simple words led to instant blessing.
Our Torah tells us bechukotai teleichu, we should follow God’s way. The word telechu comes from the word lalechet, meaning to walk. The Rabbis see our entire life as a journey that we walk through. Even Torah study is considered taking a walk, for we are never standing in the same spot, both literally and figuratively. We are not to take things by chance, but realize that people are placed in front of us to notice, to learn their stories, and to tell their stories again.
Within five minutes, these two extraordinary individuals, one whose voice was heard by thousands of people, and another, a simple Uber driver trying to put food on his child’s table, allowed me to appreciate the blessings that I have been given. My prayer is that each of us takes a moment to share our blessings with each other as well. Walking takes one step at a time…But it leads to a journey.
