He Was Good to My Son

Have you ever heard a father say of someone: “He was good to my son”? If you have, you have no doubt sensed something that goes far deeper than any ordinary gratitude. It seems that a man will be everlastingly grateful to someone who “was good to his son.”

As parents we appreciate, of course, all the thoughtfulness and favors of our friends, all the kindness and courtesies that come from other people. We are grateful for every recognition, for every consideration that comes to us from others. But there is a special kind of gratitude, a deep, enduring gratitude reserved for those of whom we can say: “He was good to our son.” “He was good to our children.” “We are grateful to teachers who, understandingly, have eased them over difficult periods. We are grateful for those who have helped them find their way into useful work. We are grateful to those who have taken time to listen to them, to understand them, to steady and encourage them. We are deeply grateful to those who have helped them over any awkwardness, to those who have helped them avoid making serious mistakes, to those have helped them to adjust to life. Words cannot well express how grateful we are to anyone who takes the time and trouble to help a son or a daughter of any one of us.

And since our hearts are so sincerely warm toward those who have been good to our children, would we not expect the Father of us all to be grateful to those who are good to His children? If we want any day to mean much more than it otherwise would, we should do something for someone’s daughter, for someone’s son _ for some of our Father’s daughters or sons.

“And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these…ye have done it unto me.”