Streams of Mercy

Food Lion was very crowded this morning before the Fourth of July. Lots of folks were shopping for fireworks, red, white and blue paper goods and patriotic desserts.

As I waited in one of many endless lines, I was drawn to a frail, elderly gentleman waiting in a line two aisles over. He had only a bag of cough drops and a box of band-aids in his buggy, though he’d been pondering over some Krispy Crème Donuts displayed at the end of the check-out counter, all decked out in red, white and blue. He put the donuts in his basket, and opened his change purse to count his money, then put the donuts back and continued his wait. When he got to the front of the line, he put his two items on the counter. The checker rang up his purchase and he carefully counted out the correct change.

At that moment an act of kindness warmed the hearts of all who were watching. A man a little further back in that line pushed forward with that box of donuts and a twenty-dollar bill, saying “You forgot your donuts, sir! Happy Fourth of July.” The checker smiled and rang up the donuts and handed them to the gentleman, along with the change from that $20 dollar bill! What kindness!

My heart recalled a story I told in yesterday’s sermon, of an older priest talking with a younger one – “O Jesus Christ, is it you again?” The older priests asks this each time one of the least ones comes across his path …. “O Christ, is it you again?” I looked again at the frail elderly gentleman smiling warmly and cradling that box of donuts and these words filled my heart: “O Christ, is it you again?”

In yesterday’s sermon, I shared this quote: “The diminishing acts of kindness in America have been noted by sociologists in recent years … and it’s been said that if our way of life breaks down, it won’t be because we don’t have brains to solve our problems, but because we have forgotten how to be connected to each other in meaningful ways.”

I’m so thankful for this experience, and the act of kindness that blessed one of God’s children and challenged all who were a part of this moment to remember the blessing of random acts of kindness! As we celebrate another birthday of our beloved nation, let’s do something about those “diminishing acts of kindness in America.”

Elizabeth