Yesterday I took my youngest son into the local grocer to up the essentials. At the entrance we passed by a tall lady with four-foot long hair “dreadlocks”, wearing an incredibly colorful outfit. She was enthusiastically talking to someone at the door and I thought to myself, “No there’s a person you would not forget seeing or talking to!” Anyway we were in a hurry and did not want to stare, so went in and began our selection.
As we strolled down the second aisle, Tyler spotted a credit card on the floor and brought it to me. It had the photo of the owner on the back for ID purposes, and he asked me what he should do with it. So I told him to walk about the store and see if he could find that lady that owned it.
In five minutes he returned with an excited look on his face and told me that he did find her and gave her the card. She, in turn, thanked him and gave him $10! He asked me “why” she had given him $10? Oh the beauty of such an innocent heart! He simply did what a moral man should naturally do without any thought of reward. He was glad—-truly happy—-to “make her day”. That’s all he needed. To see her happy.
As we talked I explained to him that she was rewarding him for his honesty and help, and suddenly the lady with long braids and bright dress (it was her!) bolted down the aisle and praised my little boy for what he did, told him that she saved her from a lot of trouble, and gave him another $10! (Later, he used the $20 to purchase a Dr. Pepper—-which he later shared with his brother and then gave me the rest of the money to “hold for him”.) Again, so refreshing to see some people—-like this colorful lady and my son—do something so kind.
It’s restorative, but because, sadly, it is not common. Tyler asked me again and again, why she gave him the money—-and two times! Happily, he has not yet learned that in our modern society some sort of bounty should follow doing the decent thing. I hope he never learns that lesson. He then asked me who this lady was, and I told him that she might have been an angel—-sent their to test or prove his character. And she might have been! If we can only get it out of head that this person or that person is not worthy of our kindness and attention, and start believing that each time we show kindness to the least of His children, we’re showing it to Jesus, Himself. If we do this our world will become much more like heaven and a lot less like—-well, like it is now.
I am glad to know that despite our human depravity, there are also times when women and little boys do the right thing and give evidence of the “image of God” within us; fractured…yet within all of us.
Warmly,
Dean Barley
1945 Vineyard Road
Westfield, NC 27053
336 351 2070
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