Good evening. Tonight, I am going to tell you a story about a boy named Kyle Smith who graduated from a public school in Chicago several years ago, as told from the point of view of his friend Ted.

Ted begins, “One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class, named Kyle, walking home from school carrying a load of books. I thought, ‘Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? What a nerd.’ As I was walking, I saw a group of kids knock all of his books out of his arms and trip him. His glasses went flying, and since I saw where they went, I retrieved them and went over to him. I handed him his glasses and said, ‘Those guys are jerks. Ignore them.’ I helped him pick up his books and carry them, and we talked all the way home. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I invited him to play football on Saturday with my friends and me. We hung out and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him. My friends thought the same. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. Kyle was at the top of our class and of course I teased him all the time about being a nerd.

Graduation day arrived. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So I smacked him on the back and said, ‘Hey don’t worry, you’ll be great!’ He looked at me with one of those looks, the really grateful one and smiled. ‘Thanks,’ he said.

As he started his speech, he cleared his throat and began, ‘Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach… but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them.’

Kyle said, ‘I am going to tell you a story.’

I stared at Kyle in disbelief as he told the story of the first day we met.

Kyle had made a plan of never coming back to school. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn’t have to do it later. That was why he was carrying all of his stuff home that first time we met. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile.

‘Thankfully, I was saved,’ Kyle said. ‘My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable.’

I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw Kyle’s Mom and Dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile.

Not until that moment did I realize its depth.”

Sometimes we forget how powerful our words and our actions are. How many of us have been in a situation where we felt as alienated as Kyle did? How many of us have treated someone as unkindly as Kyle was treated? And how many of us have offered the kind of kindness that Ted showed?

We are presented with opportunities every single day to treat others with kindness, yet so frequently we do not take them. We are also presented with the opportunity to pull others down, to criticize. And too often, we take it.

Edward R. Sills captures this in the poem, “The Fool’s Prayer.”

These clumsy feet, still in the mire,

Go crushing blossoms without end;