"Kirby always exhibits respect for those people he has to lead out of our
building. He never degrades them. I'll find him out on the sidewalk 30
minutes later talking to them about their faith and about where they are in
life. Kirby is not an ordained minister. Kirby is a man who shares his faith
- especially with those people he considers down and out."
It's as if he were put here for just that purpose. And found himself in
just the right place at just the right time to do just the right thing.
There are no coincidences, as a rabbi once told me.
"The One Thing You Must Do" is the title of a poem by Rumi, the Persian
mystic who wrote in the 13th century in the Sufi tradition:
"There is one thing in this world that you must never forget to do. If you
forget everything else and not this, there's nothing to worry about; but if
you remember everything else and forget this, then you will have done
nothing in your life.
"It is as if a king has sent you to some country to do a task, and you
perform a hundred other services, but not the one he sent you to do. So
human beings come to this world to do particular work. That work is the
purpose, and each is specific to the person. If you don't do it, it's as
though a knife of the finest tempering were nailed into a wall to hang
things on. For a penny an iron nail could be bought to serve for that."
Blessed is the man who's found his calling, his mission, his particular
work, the one thing he must do - and does it. And so blesses us all.