My faith in humanity tends to get quite low at times.

It dips whenever I have to deal with a public official I know to be a two-faced liar.

It dips whenever I encounter a scam being perpetrated against vulnerable people who can ill afford to lose a penny.

It dips whenever I have to shovel a 4-foot mountain of snow placed on the sidewalk by some inconsiderate, self-centered moron with a plow truck who pushed it there off his driveway.

But last week, my faith-in-humanity tank got a refill. In fact, I’d say it’s overflowing.

Under the cover of darkness in the early morning hours of Dec. 13, someone slipped an envelope with my name on it through the mail slot of the Oxford Leader’s front door.

Inside it were three crisp $100 bills along with a letter. The writer who simply identified himself – or herself – as “The Lone Ranger” instructed me to give $100 each to Oxford-Orion FISH, the K-9 Stray Rescue League and the Free Community Meals program at the Oxford United Methodist Church.

These are the three local charities identified in my Nov. 23 column as my personal favorites.

“We must never lose sight of what really matters – our children, our neighbors, our animals that are in need,” this anonymous donor wrote. “For our future depends on what we do here and now for them.”

Well said.

My natural curiosity as a journalist had me wondering who did this. I wanted to seek them out and thank them. But then again, this incredibly generous gesture means so much more because it was completely anonymous.

Sometimes it seems like there are too many folks out there who do good deeds, but only because they expect some publicity or a pat on the back in return.

Somewhere along the line these misguided souls forgot that doing good is its own reward and that true charity is both selfless and anonymous.

The truly giving person does not brag on Facebook or Twitter about how many hours they volunteer or call the newspaper requesting a photo of them posing with their donation check so everyone can see what a big shot they are.

This letter and the donations that accompanied it are one of the best Christmas presents I have ever received. It reminded me there are still plenty of kindhearted people out there who do good things, quietly, behind the scenes, neither seeking nor expecting credit. Their only desire is to help others and make their little corner of the world a better place.

Whoever this Lone Ranger person is, I want to thank him or her from the bottom of my heart for embodying what the true spirit of Christmas – and community – is all about.

NOTE:

A little more faith in humanity was restored on Tuesday morning as I watched Oxford firefighters Nancy Hunger and Ben Horton attempt to revive a little white dog who had been trapped in a burning house on Maloney Ave. They worked just as hard on that dog as they would had it been a person.

Though the poor little pup didn’t survive, Hunger and Horton are to be commended for their efforts and commitment to all life.