This week’s Inspiration continues the theme of giving shared over the past two weeks in preparation for the Thanksgiving holiday. I think it beautifully illustrates the wonderful boomerang effect of generosity. Invariably, our unconditional giving to others returns to us the three things we crave most in life — happiness, freedom, and peace of mind.
It had been a long and tiring day for Joe. As he was driving along the bumpy and dusty two-lane country road headed home, he thought about how difficult the past several years had been. There was nothing “great” about the Great Recession that had altered his life and the community he lived in. After the biggest employer in the county had shut its doors, work in this small Midwestern community was almost as slow as his beat-up Pontiac.
Ever since the factory closed, he’d been unemployed. Joe had never quit looking for a steady replacement job, but after a fruitless while he’d had to settle on just scraping by finding odd jobs. Now even those were getting more and more difficult to find. He’d worked all day cleaning out a commercial building that had been seized by the local bank. He was happy to have earned something, though the rent on his home was overdue and he knew that he was still $200 short. Joe found himself silently praying as he contemplated having to move his wife out of their modest home with no place to go. “God, I need a miracle right now, but I guess there are plenty of others in the same boat,” he mumbled, “I know I should be happy with what I have, but it don’t seem right that I don’t have anything at all. I know you’ve never failed me, Lord, but, right now, I feel like I’m a failure.” As the winter winds crept through the many cracks and crevices of his old car, Joe’s thoughts reminded him that it was much more than the season’s chill that was now hitting his home and his family. The chill of fear was much more compelling.
It was a lonely road. Not very many people had a reason to be on it unless they were leaving town as most of his friends had already done. They had families to feed and dreams to fulfill. But Joe had stayed on. After all, this was where he buried his mother and father. He was born here; he knew the country. He could go down this road blind, and tell you what was on either side, even with his headlights not working. That came in handy since they didn’t.
It was starting to get dark and light snow flurries were coming down. He almost did not notice the old lady stranded on the side of the road. But even in the dim light of dusk, he could see she needed help. So, he pulled up in front of her Mercedes, turned off the ignition and got out. His Pontiac’s motor was still sputtering and coughing as he approached her.
Even with the smile on his face, he could readily see that she acknowledged him with a scared and worried look. It had been well over an hour since the flat tire forced her to stop. There hadn’t been even one car pass by during that time, so she was initially elated when this man stopped, but as he came nearer, she noted that his clothes, face, and hands were dirty. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe. He looked poor and desperate.
As Joe got closer, he could see that the lady was frightened and shivering and not just from the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill that only fear can put in you. He recognized it because it had become a familiar feeling for him too. He said in the most soothing and non-threatening voice he could muster, “I am here to help you ma’am. Why don’t you just wait in your car where it’s warm? I’ll change your tire and get you on your way shortly. By the way, my name is Joe.”
Joe crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But now he wasn’t just dirty; he was filthy and his scuffed and skinned hands hurt. As he was tightening up the last lug nuts, she rolled down her window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only passing through. She could not thank him enough for coming to her aid. Joe just smiled as he closed her trunk.
Reaching into her purse she pulled out a thick wad of what looked like nothing but hundred dollar bills and asked him how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She had already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. But, however tempting, Joe only momentarily thought about the money. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it did not occur to him to act now in any other way. He told her he couldn’t take money for helping a person who needed it, and if she really wanted to pay him back, then the next time she saw someone who needed help, she try to give that person the assistance they needed, and Joe added, “And think of me.”
He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, and tomorrow would probably be the same, but Joe felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.
A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her, still the thought of a cup of hot coffee and a bite to eat was something she couldn’t resist at this moment.
Her waitress greeted her with a big smile and surprised her with a clean towel so she could wipe her wet hair. That sweet smile and kind gesture filled the old lady with a jolt of warmth. Looking more closely at the thoughtful waitress, the lady noted that she looked as if she had been on her feet for the whole day. She also noticed that the waitress was very pregnant. The old lady marveled that the waitress never let her strain and her obvious uncomfortable condition affect her positive attitude. She also wondered how someone like this waitress, who obviously had so little could be so nice and giving to a total stranger. Then she remembered Joe. After the old lady finished her meal, and the waitress went to get her change from a hundred-dollar bill she gave her, the lady slipped another hundred under her napkin and quickly stepped right out the door.
She was gone by the time the waitress came back. She looked around the café, wondering where the old lady could be, then she noticed something written on the napkin left on the table and another hundred dollar bill was peeking out from beneath it. Tears began to cloud her eyes as she read what the lady wrote. The note said, “You don’t owe me a thing in change and this other hundred is also for you. You were wonderful to me, and I got this strange and powerful sense that right now you are in more need of this money than I certainly am, so I want you to have it as a token of my appreciation for your being an angel to a stranger. Believe me, I have been in need too. Someone just recently helped me out, so I am now helping you. If you want to thank me, here’s what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.”
There were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could she have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month and her husband still looking for any job, and the rent overdue, times were definitely hard, especially for him. She knew how worried he was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered in a low and loving voice, “Everything’s going to be all right. I love you, Joe.”
Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure by which you measure will in return be measured out to you. Luke 6:38
Have an AWE-full weekend!
William “Bill” Bacque