Try a Little Kindness

The man was old and bent, stooping to laboriously unload groceries from the cart, assisted by his slight, white-haired companion, obviously his wife. The heat was oppressive with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees. I could see them across the lane from my vantage point in the car. I was waiting in the air conditioning for my husband to run in and pick up a prescription.

Mentally urging the couple to hurry their slow, deliberate pace and get out of the blazing sun, I looked up to see the straight, sturdy figure of a younger man waiting by their car as the last bag was unloaded. I wondered what he was doing, then I saw him take their empty cart and roll it toward the distant cart stall on the other side of the traffic lane. The small act of kindness touched my heart.

We had just finished lunch and were doing a few errands before heading home. It seems as sure as we get out of the house, we feel hunger pangs and the tiresome discussion of where to eat comes up. After discounting Howard's suggestions of Chinese, pizza and a few other fast food places, I finally suggest just getting a sandwich at a local family-style restaurant.

As we waited to be seated, I spotted a familiar face in a booth--a former pastor. On the way to a table, we stopped to say hello. Looking up in surprise he greeted us warmly and insisted we sit with him. As she handed us a menu, I overheard the old pastor say to the waitress, "When the ticket comes, give it to me." Wow! What a kind gesture! Especially in a place where the food could be pricey, although my only splurge was sweet potato fries to go with my sandwich.

The two preachers plunged into conversation about the recent 100th anniversary celebration our friend had just attended marking the founding of our church fellowship. We had watched parts of the services that had been recorded for television, so they had much to talk about. The telling of the many friends and acquaintances Pastor saw there from his fifty years in ministry soon led to reminiscences of the past. We followed his stories of God's grace from the early times of picking cotton in a share-cropper up-bringing, to his world travels as a missionary-evangelist.

When we left more than an hour later, we were full not only of food, but of warm, Christian fellowship and the fulfillment of knowing we were listening ears to this faithful saint, lonely since the passing of his wife some 18 months ago. Following the admonition of Romans 12:10, "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love, in honor preferring one another," was easy.