After service at a small country church, Bill, an 82 year old man, greeted us. We had never met before. When we told him we spend more time overseas than in the US, he said he had seen the world. He served during the Korean War for eight years, and then was out for about the same length of time. Later he served in the Army Reserves. Though we think of the reserves as a home assignment, the Army chose to make Bill an almost permanent traveler.
We told him my dad had served in WWII and told us very little about his time in the army. We didn’t know until a few years ago that Dad was a decorated veteran with three bronze stars and a silver star to his credit. We had never heard how he earned them, and Dad never displayed them. It was as though those incidents were too poignant for words.
This gentleman said, “There are things in the past you would gladly do again, but there others you would never care to repeat.”
He went on to tell us the one thing he regrets the most from his many years in service. While in Guatemala they were told to only carry the money they were going to spend when they went off base. After being out with his buddies he saw a very sick looking boy. He asked the interpreter what was wrong with this child. He was told that the boy’s mother had taken him to a doctor but didn’t have enough money for his medicine. Bill reached in his pocket and all that was left was 25 cents. His eyes glistened even as he told this story.
For a moment, imagine you were talking to the good Samaritan that Jesus told about, like we talked to Bill today. Don’t you think he would be glad he crossed the road that day? Don’t you think he would be glad he was able to help the injured man? Don’t you think he would be so glad he had the resources to help him? There are things in life we cannot do and we regret, and there are other things we can do and the memory brings us joy the rest of our life.
May your life be filled with joy with very few regrets.