Giving...

(Finding myself speechless and the incredible generosity of a total stranger...)

Today at work I'd got an inkling to go to lunch with CG and his lunch buddy Mino... Most days I do my own thing, preferring to work through lunch and leave work earlier... but today, as my belly rumbled at me and with quite a lot of work yet to get through I invited myself along...

As I thought he would, CG drove us to a little Mexican place on the island.  A family run business that had three restaurants, the one closest to work (which CG loved to frequent,) had closed just a few weeks previous (like several other small businesses in our area,) due to the lack of business. So here we were trekking several extra miles for his favorite chile rellenos...

Behind the counter the man (Miguel the owner,) started to chat with CG, remembering him from the other restaurant..., then he looked at me, and I was shocked that not only did he remember me from the one time I went in there when he had been working, but also remembered our conversation about his beautiful reproduction painting of Our Lady Of Guadalupe situated on the restaurant wall looking down kindly upon the hungry customers...

He pointed to the wall of this restaurant, and asked if I noticed the same painting?  "I did," I replied (still shocked he remembered me,) "she's very beautiful, one day I will go visit Our Lady in the Basilica in Mexico City." I told him..

He served us our food and disappeared into the kitchen.  We sat at our table and started our lunch, Miguel appeared again, carrying a slightly smaller, framed image of Our Lady of Guadalupe... holding it out to me he said, "this is for you."

Our Lady of Guadalupe

If your curious you can check her out here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Guadalupe

I couldn't believe my ears, and was so stunned by his generosity.  I immediately said "oh no... I couldn't... "  I was a little embarrased, but he went on, saying that he had brought this back from Mexico city and that he wanted me to have it..  So, I said "yes."  Standing up I gave this generous stranger a BIG thank you hug,,, and hugged my own copy of Our Lady...

Our Lady - Looking very much at home here.

Do you have a story to share about the kindness of a stranger?

It can be such a powerful experience can't it?  Proving the point to me over and over again, that though we think that we are "separate" from others (folks different from us - spiritually, economically, racially etc. etc.) We truly aren't that different..., we aren't that separate... The fact that I can share a love of an image with a total stranger, and he endows and trusts me with this image that he loves and cares about so much makes me filled with love and filled with wonder and appreciation, at the kindness of this stranger.