What Really Matters

One of the podcasts I subscribe to is called "Story Corps," which is a collection of brief personal stories told by individuals across the country. During a recent podcast that featured two different stories, I found myself reflecting upon the deeper themes and meanings of the storytellers' experiences...

The first story came from Dr. Pedro Greer who has practiced medicine in Miami for over 25 years, with much of his work focusing on the city's homeless population. He was profoundly touched by one encounter he had with a small boy:

"One day I went to the clinic and it was lunchtime, and there was a mother, and she had three of her kids from the Salvation Army. And her youngest son, about I guess six years old, had a sweet smile, and I handed him my sandwich. And the kid took the sandwich out of the bag, unwrapped it, broke it in half, took a couple of bites, and he stuck it back in the wrapper. And I couldn't figure out why the kid was doing that. And I asked the kid, 'Why'd you do that?' And this little boy just looked up at me and said, 'It's for my brother.' And that was probably one of the most important lessons I ever learned - that a six-year-old homeless child is teaching us what we're all supposed to do: think about somebody else."
-- Dr. Pedro Greer

The second story came from Jesus Melendez who spoke about the experience of being with his friend, Pedro Pietri, during his passing. He was deeply moved by observing his friend pass away, particularly in observing how his friend's attention "focused somewhere else" where "there was no pain." He described his friend's passing as "a quiet dignity" and a "beautiful" experience:

"...his leaving like that just shows you that life is indeed a mystery and that this [stuff] on earth is not all there is to life; that the spirit-matter is what matters more than human matter."
--Jesus Papalito Melendez

Both of these individuals' experiences touch upon deep truths that I think should not be overlooked. Do we live our lives for ourselves? Do we live to accumulate treasures and comfort in this earthly life? Or do we follow the example given to us in our Savior who gave freely of Himself and called us to live for things of eternal value?