This week, this Thanksgiving week, I have been feeling a little heartbroken over the pain in our world. A dear friend is suffering and being close to his pain has increased my sensitivity to sadness in places I might normally overlook.
Like the young man walking down the row of cars while I was stopped at a red light. He passed me twice with his worn out sign begging for help. I avoided eye contact with him. I didn’t even read his sign. I thought Employers are begging people to come to work. Why isn’t he working? And then I remembered that some people can’t work because of mental illness, physical limitations and other life circumstances. Some of them are people I love.
That’s when my heart broke a little for this too-thin, living-on-the-bottom-of-the barrel young man. I saw him for the human being he was, a man made in God’s image, but someone who needed help. I rolled down my car window and on his third pass by I waved a handful of single bills at him. He ran to my car, thanking me profusely as if I had just solved global warning or a world-wide pandemic. He was so grateful. So thankful.
We exchanged some human chat.
“It’s cold out here today,” I said. “You okay?”
“Oh yes! I prefer the cold to the hot. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your help. It’s really been a slow day.”
I drove away feeling blessed that I was able to help him.
Maybe that’s why, a few minutes later, doing my Thanksgiving grocery shopping, my eyes were open to the young cashier at the checkout counter in the grocery store. The line was long. Five people were in front of me Welcome to Thanksgiving lines during a worker shortage I thought. ! I watched as each person paid for their groceries without saying a word to her or really seeing her.
When it was my turn, I could see how exhausted she was. “Bunny,” I read her name tag, “how long have you been standing here today?
“This is the end of my 8-hour shift.”
“Oh that’s a long time.” I said.
“Yes, there aren’t enough of us to cover the Thanksgiving shopping, so we are all working long shifts.”
“Well, thank you so much for working so hard so we can enjoy Thanksgiving.”
And that’s when we saw it. My groceries were bagged, in the cart and paid for except for my large and expensive $40 turkey.
We had been talking and neither of us realized our mistake. What to do?
“Oh, just ring it up separately.” I said. Of course, that was the answer.
And that’s when I heard him say, “Oh, its okay. I’ll cover it. Happy Thanksgiving!”
The man behind me, the next one in line, a complete stranger, paid for my turkey dinner!
I had not expected to be a blessing to anyone that day. I hadn’t expected to give. I hadn’t expected to receive. I had my “to do” list and my agenda. But odd as it may seem, it seems like these two “giving” events seem linked.
Could it be when we give we also become recipients of blessing? I wonder what happened to my turkey buyer? Did he win the lottery? Did his stocks and bonds explode upward? Was he deeply appreciated by someone he loved?
What will you and I bring to the Thanksgiving table this year? Will we give love, joy and celebration of the people we are with? Will our hearts open just a little more to each other’s humanity? And will we somehow receive a linked blessing intended just for us because we dug a little deeper , found compassion and cared?
A fist full of dollars? A turkey paid for by a stranger? Both seem to be special…almost like a smile from God.
Hope this is true of you this year…that you experience the smile of God.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Thanksgiving 2021