“Be kind and compassionate to one another." ~ Ephesians
4:32
The summer’s heat had already
become unbearable; sweat trickled down her back like warm soup. “Gonna have to get ‘Betsy’s’ air conditioning
fixed” she mumbled to herself for the third time this week.
Kassidy had been running errands all morning and was about
to head home but decided to treat herself first. Ice cream shops are always joyful places. What could make a person happier than the
sweet smell of fresh waffle cones and gallons of creamy, frozen goodness to
choose from?
The Dreamery Creamery’s ice-cream freezer was stacked with
all her favs – chocolate peanut butter, raspberry ripple and orange dreamsicle
. . . but there were more, so many more! As her breath fogged up the glass, a bubbly youngster
caught her attention.
David’s tiny hands spread over the chilled glass like a
hungry cat over a fishbowl. If there had
been three choices he’d have picked one long ago, but the array put his mind
into a blissful tingle of possibilities. There weren’t just all the flavors, but all
the possible combinations. It wouldn’t
come cheap of course, but then reaching your 4th birthday is a
reason to celebrate.
"Are you sure you want to spend your birthday money on
ice cream?" his mother asked.
There’s something intoxicating about an excited child. They bounce, they giggle, they squeal (and
they lack an ounce of patience). As Danny’s
grin got wider, from a distance Kassidy too started to smile. Bursting with liquid sunshine from within,
Danny eagerly nodded “YES!!”
Kassidy stood behind him as the cashier smothered a small
vanilla cone with sprinkles. She handed
him the cone and he handed her his money. He was about to turn around when the cashier
told him to wait and dropped a few small coins into his hand.
The little guy looked at his change for a moment and then
lifted his hand up to a St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital donation box on the
counter and dropped them in it. He
turned around and met Kassidy’s eyes. He
grinned and she smiled back. Then he
walked out of the store with his Mom, happily licking his frozen desert.
After watching that little miracle of love, Kassidy’s heart
felt lighter and the world seemed brighter. It felt so good to be in a world that had such
kindness in it. She knew too that all of
the angels in heaven must have been cheering when they saw that little boy’s
kindness.
In the eyes of God no gift is too small; every act of love
is priceless. By simply sharing a few
coins that little boy had made Earth a little more like Heaven. May we all do the same.
Almighty Father, in today's hustle and bustle,
it’s too easy to move through the day disconnected from our capacity as humans
to be kind and caring. Teach me to
become fluent in kindness; compassionate to others, to the earth and to
me. Amen
