I had a good friend from school meet me at a Christian coffee/cafe to work on mass transfer homework yesterday. It was nice to finally meet his wife, Patience, she works there. While we dug into 6-3.5, with very little success and lots of grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs, Patience handed us both a homemade brownie. I had made my mind up the day before to not eat anything, except for my juice that i make, and there would be no if, ands or buts about it. However as i looked at the treat and thought about the intention of where it came from, my little ultimatum dwindled in comparison to the idea of her treating us and trying to give of what she had to give. I ate it gratefully and still managed to finish off the rest of my day following the previous goal. Anyways i guess the best part was how i got the idea of "little things" being so important to what makes life good or not. Then just moments later as i was focused on a deep thought, i heard "hey", "hi there", "hello". In my subconscious radar i will generally think my academic thoughts all the while i absorb the happenings around me. This man was making his way through the room towards the bathroom, and on his way, was trying to greet people he went by. The large table next to mine was filled with about 8 women who if i had to guess, would be church pillar type women. I mean ladies who all go to and are involved with the happenings in church social circles. I may be completely wrong too. Anyhow they were laughing and having livid conversation with one another in a group conscience, while the man who was not very well kept and a bit awkward, came up to them and said, "hello there" to them directly. The whole table pretended as if he didn't exist! It was so obvious and sad to see. The man paused and then went his way to the bathroom. On his way, he passed me but was looking at the floor. So while he was in the bathroom, i thought about how there have been times in my life where i avoided uncomfortable situations based on my prejudices and how much experience i have lost over the years. Then as i had just started to think about the chemistry again i heard "hey there", and looked up to see the man standing by me. We talked for quite some time and i came to realize that he was a bit different in how he processed life, but also got to talk about God and going to church and school and people he knew and some other very interesting things. But after a time he said "i better go, i am not supposed to bother the people" and i said OK it was nice to meet you and watched him leave. So i guess he probab;y goes there often and has been complained about for interrupting peoples important conversations. It kind of made me wish those women would have stopped for just a minute to hear him and realize that his day held memories too. I was glad that God gave me the chance to meet him and i hope he ends up with a good memory of talking to me too. Really in life all we get is our memories, not the stuff. I am seeing more and more just what it takes to make a difference in my own life. I look with eyes of hope and listen with ears of love and think with thoughts of service. The rest just works itself out. And when i don't use those simple tools, then things tend to go a way different direction. None of us are perfect by any means, but we can sure make the effort to live as such, following what we learn of how Jesus did it. So i guess it all comes down to really reading the Bible so as to understand The Ways of Jesus as best we can.
Good reminder!
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