Be Sure to Show Love

CBS shared a truly inspirational story the other day. Steve Hartman has a new segment called Kindness 101 where they are talking with children about qualities like empathy, courage, gratitude, friendship, and compassion. The story about empathy featured Austin Perine from Birmingham Alabama, who they had previously interviewed when he was four years old. With his father, he was watching a show about pandas where the mother panda abandoned her baby, leaving it homeless. Austin asked his father what it means to be homeless, and his dad said it’s where you may not have a mom and dad around and you don’t have a roof over your head. Austin then asked if human beings were homeless, and his dad said yes.

Immediately Austin said he wanted all his allowance and all the money that was supposed to go for toys to be used for feeding the homeless. And his dad listened. Once a week they go out and buy chicken sandwiches and give them to homeless people on the street.

He wore a cape because he saw himself as a superhero and asked people to call him President Austin because that’s what he thought presidents would do.

But it gets even better than that. Every time he gives a sandwich out, he says, “Don’t forget to show love.”  And they do. When they interviewed some of the people who received the sandwiches, they said Austin gives them hope.  And when asked why he does this he said, “Because it’s just the right thing to do.”  My heart soared in joy when I heard him say these words.

Three years later they interviewed him again for the Kindness 101 segment. He said he still goes out once a week with chicken sandwiches, but he no longer wears his cape because he was getting too much attention and he wanted it to be about the homeless people.

When asked what keeps him going, he said, “It’s something I love to do. It is my passion. Feeding the homeless is still the highlight of my life.”

Thank you, Austin. You are our superhero! You are a way-shower.

The question is, who are you willing to care for today? It could be a homeless person, a member of your family, or even yourself. If more and more people live their life with this kind of care for their fellow humans and take to heart what Austin is inviting everybody to do – to show more love – our world will be transformed.