"Be kind to strangers, you may be showing hospitality to angels without knowing it." ~ Hebrews 13:2
Amanda was on her way home from
work when she noticed traffic was moving in a strange way. Traffic had slowed; horns were blaring. And then the cause of the problem came into
view.
An elderly woman stood in the middle of the road. Apparently, the signal to walk had expired
while she was still trying to cross.
While many of the oncoming cars did stop for her, some of the cars in
the outer lane kept driving, ignoring that she was left helpless in
the middle of the road. She looked
terrified.
Damian had been standing outside
the corner pharmacy waiting to pick up a prescription for his grandmother. From a distance, he had an imposing stature;
someone you might not want to lock eyes with, smirking as if something bad was
about to happen.
She, like many older persons, tended
to look more at her feet due to the inherent need to plant precise steps. In turn, she also paid less attention to the
traffic.
He rushed toward the stranded
woman.
Even with the smile on his face, she looked worried. Was he going to rob her; maybe hurt her?
She indicated that she needed to go to the far side. “Right now,” Damian said kindly, “let’s just
get you out of traffic.” He blocked all
cars from moving in any direction. Then Damian escorted her to the other side
of the street walking in such a way that the cars would see them both … and
know that if you hit one of them, you’d hit them both.
When they reached the other side, the smile on her face grew
like a spring flower. People smile with
more than their mouths. Damian heard it
in her voice; saw it in her eyes, and felt it in the way she relaxed. Pandemic be damned, she hugged him in a way
that brought pure joy.
She thanked him profusely and offered a few bills as
compensation. He refused. This wasn’t a job to him; but simply helping
someone in need. God only knew how many
who had given him a hand in the past. He
lived his whole life that way; it never occurred to him to act any differently.
The world is full of unkindness. But we all have the choice to be kind. It costs nothing, but has rewards that are
beyond worth. It has no time table. It’s NEVER too late to be kind to someone.
