January 27, 2012
Taking the Time to Make a Difference
Extra mittens: A winter story
BY PAUL R. LEINGANG
She calls them “Life’s Little Mysteries.”
She is Carol Creswell, who lives with her husband Claude in upstate New York. She is a faithful reader of this column and frequently comments about what I have written.
I recently wrote about a visit to my office from a man who wanted a few hours of work to earn $18, for gasoline and a one-dollar fastfood sandwich. I couldn’t help him get a few hours of work, but I gave him some money. I pointed out it was not what he wanted — he wanted the work. It was not what I wanted — I wanted to keep my money.
Carol reacted to this story by sharing some of her experiences, “Life’s Little Mysteries,” she called them.
They are mysteries because people seem to come from the unknown into our presence without explanation. Who are they, really? Why do they come to me?
We are in an unusual winter, so far. So is it also unusual in other parts of the country.
“Often we have really freezing weather in the wintertime in upstate New York,” Carol said in her email message. “Not THIS year, but in any usual year.”
Carol follows faithfully the process of the Christian Family Movement: Observe, Judge and Act.
No pre-judging is allowed. The process insists on non-judgmental observation first. Then comes the judgment — neither praise nor condemnation for a person we may observe — but rather a judgment of how Jesus would react to what we are seeing.
“Often I have seen people standing, freezing, in the cold,” Carol said. She doesn’t judge them for being imprudent. She sees that they are suffering from the cold.
“I keep extra mittens ($1 apiece at the dollar store) or stretchy hats (from the community support shop) in the car. Never have I been refused when I offered gloves or a hat to a cold person, male or female.
“Always, they act grateful.
“One time I stripped off my own stretchy gloves and gave them to a freezing man with blue hands who worked at Toys R Us and was helping take patrons’ packages to the car. He gave me a smile and a thank you.”
Not every experience Carol described is so benign. At times, doing what Jesus would do could be risky.
“One cold blowy night, I saw a young woman trudging in the dark on a major state road, no gloves or boots, and because it was a woman, I rolled down the window and offered her a ride. She was so grateful she started crying. I drove her 22 miles to a brother’s house in Rochester, N.Y.”
Carol learned that the woman’s boyfriend had thrown her out of the house and out of the car.
What does Carol conclude about these experiences of meeting people who are cold and lonely?
Meeting a stranger working outside in the cold without gloves, or finding a woman walking alone on a cold night — these are “life’s little mysteries that Jesus puts in front of us.”
* * *
Lord, open my eyes!
There are people you and I see around us. They are strangers. Some may be foolish. Some may be unfortunate. Some may not be deserving.
When Jesus taught us to feed the hungry, he didn’t restrict his exhortation to feed only the hungry people who somehow deserve to be helped.
When Jesus told us to visit the imprisoned, he didn’t restrict our visits to only those who are in prison unjustly.
We can plan ahead of time for some of the things we do to make a difference — such as buying gloves to give away. At other times, we may unexpectedly be given the unplanned opportunity to drive 22 miles out of the way.
Who will you meet today?
Comments are welcome. Email message@evdio.org.