Thought of the Day 08.01.08

This morning, as I was coming back from the park with Spencer, we saw an empty milk jug sitting on the rocks by the sidewalk. Since it was trash day, I picked it up and put it in the closest bin.

“Why did you do that, daddy?”
“Because when people leave trash in places they shouldn’t, it makes the world uglier. But if other people clean it up, it makes the world prettier.”
“But why do people put trash where they shouldn’t?”
“Well, you know how sometimes you leave toys out after playing with them, and we have to tell you to put them away?”
“Yes.”
“It’s sort of like that. Everyone makes messes, but there are three kinds of people: those who don’t clean up their own messes, those who clean up after themselves, and those who clean up after other people. And we want to be people who clean up other people’s messes, whether it’s trash or disagreements or anything.”
“You mean like being peacemakers?”
“Yes. As long as there are more people cleaning up for others than there are people not cleaning up after themselves, the world works fine.”
“Daddy. I like cleaning up things and making the world prettier.”
“That’s good, Spencer. God does, too.”