This week, I spent some time with a friend of mine who needed help packing up her house before it sold. This dear woman is going through what I’d call a Bad Time, and I was happy to be able to do anything I could.

Now, we all go through Bad Times now and again. It’s part of the human experience. Some of those come to us because of our own actions, and others are merely circumstantial. But for my friend, she’s going through this Bad Time simply because of another person’s selfishness.

There were a group of us there, and someone asked about taking nails down from the walls, where pictures had been hung. My friend asked what we should do: leave them for the new owners or take them down? Our other friend said, “We should take them down and spackle the holes and then touch up with paint. It’s the right thing to do.”

And my friend going through the Bad Time nodded and agreed, “It’s the right thing to do.”

I was struck by the fact that this person, who’d had serious Wrong done to her, in the midst of her pain, still did The Right Thing.

We see people doing The Right Thing all around us, if you keep your eyes open. When the Pope stops to bless a child on the side of the road, he’s doing The Right Thing. When a woman sitting on the airplane senses the anxiety of the young mom next to her whose baby is screaming and reaches out to help, she’s doing The Right Thing. When you’re standing in line in the grocery story, with a large order, and the man behind you has two items, you do The Right Thing and let him go first.

It’s easy to see the wrong things. It’s easy to do the wrong things. In the last weeks, I’ve seen some of this, when authors treat other publishing professionals and/or fellow authors poorly. I don’t like it. It makes me cranky.

Let’s make a point of seeing The Right Things. And please, DO The Right Thing. Not because you’ll get rewards or applause or recognition, but simply because it IS The Right Thing.

And there’s my Thursday sermon. Go forth and be awesome.