Larry Stewart's Legacy

Two weeks after his death, I’m still thinking about Larry Stewart, the "Secret Santa" who, over 26 years, gave away more than a million dollars to strangers in need. Back in November, I asked Benevolent Planet’s Everyday Altruists to send anonymous sentiments to Mr. Stewart, and reports indicate that he did, in fact, receive thousands of well-wishes in the weeks before he died. I hope yours was among them.

While Larry Stewart’s deeds were inspiring in themselves, I find his "backstory" even more compelling. He was moved to his habit of giving by experiencing desperate need himself, and the overwhelming gratitude that comes when a stranger lends a hand. You can read the story in this article by columnist Leonard Pitts, Jr.

This isn’t the first time I’ve learned of someone whose own struggle switched on the light of compassion for others. It’s easier to put yourself in someone else’s shoes when you’ve worn a similar pair yourself. You understand things that people in more comfortable shoes simply can’t, at least not on the gut level that helps you respond in exactly the right way.

This is why, I would suggest, President Bush’s plan for making health insurance affordable through tax credits is misguided. The well-off routinely look to tax relief as a means for keeping more of their money; the poor earn too little to owe even the value of the proposed credit. Even if they did, they can’t afford a premium every month that they hope to recoup at tax time. And like everything else they must buy to survive, health insurance will be competing with food and housing on their meager budgets, and it will continue to be a lower priority.

Anyone who has had to drop health insurance to afford rent and groceries understands this. George Bush has never been there. Larry Stewart has. And if you have, recognize that you are divinely qualified for the important work of uplifting others, in the smallest but most powerful ways.

Read and sign Larry Stewart’s Legacy guestbook.