On the way back from Jacksonville, I stopped for gas in Waldo, where it is about 20 cents a gallon cheaper than in Gainesville. I was having a hard time getting the pump to start. The woman in the cashier’s booth (older than I, although I may be deluding myself) saw my difficulty, came out, and encouraged me, “You’re doing just what you should. It’s an old pump and sometimes it takes a long time to prime.”
“It’s just ornery?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she said, and went back to her booth.
After paying, I saw that a man in a red van I had barely noticed until that moment had been waiting for my place at the pump. He had waited patiently through the whole process — my filling the tank, going to the booth to pay, and returning in a leisurely fashion to the car — with no sign of impatience. A tall young man with his hair in corn rows had been just behind me in line to pay. As I moved toward the highway, his car arrived at the exit before mine, but instead of driving on out, he waved me on ahead of him.
What riches! Within ten minutes on an ordinary day, I was favored with three simple encounters of kindness — the grace of God’s presence in the gentleness of other people, making life a little easier.
Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
(Hebrews 12:1-3)
O God,
make me mindful of your love
throughout the day.
May I bring your grace and peace to the strangers I meet.
(And may I bring your kindness
also to the people I know,
for sometimes that is harder!)