Inspiring Acts of Kindness

At my church gathering on Sundays, we take time in the beginning to share stories of how we were 'the church' the previous week. We believe that the building we meet in is just a building (and in fact, we meet in a public school auditorium!) and each of us has the responsibility (and privilege) of representing Jesus to others by being 'the church.'

I always find it inspiring to hear others talk. And I hardly ever feel that when I do something during the week and share it that it is a 'big deal.' But I think I'm wrong. I think these small things ARE a big deal. I had a story to share this morning, but since I was in the back of the room, (yeah, I'll go with that being the reason I wasn't called on) I didn't have a chance to share it. And then I read this Blog: momoftheperpetuallygrounded.blogspot.com Look for the post: A Great Small Kindness (I apologize I don't know how to insert links!) And I was inspired to share, as I hope you all are as well.

This morning on my way to church, as I was getting off the 3 train to transfer to the L, I walked past a man who was obviously in a panic. He started taking things out of his bag, setting them on the floor, muttering and looking all flustered. I walked right past him. And then I stopped and turned around. And walked back to him and asked him if he needed help.

He explained that he had left his wallet on the train. And he started kind of pacing, not knowing what to do next. He was going to wait for the next train. I told him that he should go to the attendant to let them know. It seemed like the reasonable thing to do. He followed me up the steps, but then wandered away. I let the attendant know what happened, and then the man came back and finally spoke to the attendant himself. I figured he was ok and continued on my way. And then I heard the MTA worker ask, what train was it? And he was flustered and pacing again. So I yelled back, it was the 3, and he repeated it and was much calmer. And I continued to my transfer.

So you may be wondering now, what did I really do? But I know there have been times, many times, in my life where I just couldn't see what was right in front of me. And I was so grateful when someone just told me what I needed to do. When we're panicked, we often don't think of the next right thing. Wouldn't it be nice to know that there would always be someone there to help us until we could regain control? Anyway, I think so. And I hope you do, too.