Meekness with Muscle

William Barclay, the beloved Scripture scholar and writer, once told the story of a gentle man named Basil Oliver.

Basil was eighty-five years old when he died. Some called him the oldest office boy in London. More than thirty years earlier, after losing his wife, he moved into the London Central Y.M.C.A. and never lived anywhere else. Instead, he quietly made himself useful. He collected outgoing mail, fetched stamps, ran errands, and assisted with whatever needed to be done. On Sundays, he distributed newspapers and served coffee in the lounge. Always smiling, always humming, Basil could be seen walking through the halls in his soft canvas shoes—a kind of unofficial chaplain of kindness.

Then one Sunday, Basil didn’t come down to serve the buffet. He was found unconscious in his room, and he died the next morning.

Only then did people begin to realize how much he had done, and how many lives he had touched. Basil had been a quiet rescuer to young people…