Extreme Kindness

Brad's Journal - September 27, 2002

I am now the farthest east I have ever been in my own country. Brandon Manitoba has been full of fun and generosity. A lovely couple took us in, the night we arrived, and supplied our stomach’s with food and our hearts with kindness. So many people are now recognizing us that I no longer worry about lack of ideas for our acts of kindness. In fact I begin to understand a new frustration over being unable to take advantage of every opportunity that comes our way. For that one school we speak at there are five more that we will be unable to fit in. For each person we hug there are a hundred more that we’ll never meet. Today a lady asked if we were the boys she saw on the news. I replied yes, ready to receive the usual smile, yet instead, she immediately pleaded for us to visit her dying sister. I answered that I would do everything in my power to see her sister before we left. However, I could not give her a guarantee and that lack of surety causes me a certain amount of inner pain. I left the lady with a hug and a sad smile, and my dawning understanding that the more I accomplish the more I must be aware of my own humanity and its limitations. One person can do an incredible amount of good but not as much as four people working together. In turn those four cannot reach the heights of an entire nation working towards a better tomorrow. So if you have taken the time to read this journal please take one more moment and hug someone that I might never meet.

On a lighter note Regina was full of unexpected surprises from football to White City street hockey. We shared our hotel with the Ottawa Renegades and man those guys are huge. Johnny Pants our new manager is flying high in his quest to do the impossible: getting us anywhere on time. My highlight most recently has been……….you know what there are just too many.

My last words tonight will be: “dance where people least expect it”

B