Greetings Dear Reader,
Over-the-road travel is something I deeply enjoy. Seeing the vistas and views of the road
always brings me a new appreciation for the world and its beauty. Travel brings other things as well. One of them is the need to drop off and pick
up liquids.
When I stop for petrol, my mind is almost always focused on
my needs. I need petrol. I need something to drink. I need to go to the loo. For petrol there are self-serve
pumps. The restroom is usually available
without me having to interact with anyone.
Getting a drink or snack, however, requires that I interact with the
clerk at the service station.
In that moment, I must decide how I am going to treat this
individual. I must take my mind off the
needs I have and choose how I will go into the next moment. I am just stopping for gas. I need to simply pay for my soda and
sandwich. The entire interaction will
only span a couple of minutes. That is
where the reality places me in an entirely different world.
That human across the counter becomes a fellow traveler for
those couple of minutes. He or she is
journeying with me for the duration of the transaction. I am completely responsible for how I make
that person feel in the interaction. I
am obligated to love that person. I am
responsible for how that conjunction of time impacts the clerk.
Now stretch this over the entire journey. Consider how these brief encounters impact
those with whom we share the encounter.
One impact is this: When it is
three in the morning and you do not realize that you are stopping at the same
station you did a couple of years ago. You
do not remember that it is the same clerk.
She, however, remembers you and smiles broadly. She says, “I remember you. I was having such a bad night and you were so
kind to me that last time you were here.”
Instead of a quick stop for petrol, peeing, a diet soda, and
peanuts the conjunction turns into a story of encouragement and a second
helping of a single-serving friendship.
You get to learn that your practice of being kind to strangers can make
a difference. You also get to learn that
it changes you.
That habitual predisposition to kindness changes you Dear
Reader. It makes us predisposed to
kindness in other areas. It puts us in
the position of being kind when we are just stopping for bread, just picking up
something from the hardware store, or simply grabbing a quick meal at the
burger place. All of those brief
encounters are opportunities to show the love of Christ as we are going. Every interaction is a chance to be his hands
and feet over the span of a couple of minutes.
It is our obligation but it is also fun.
There is something beautiful about being kind to
others. There is something amazing in
the disposition of life being set to a predisposition to kindness and
love. In that realization comes the
possibility to render a life that filled with love and kindness to others. It can begin with having the right
perspective when just stopping for gas.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every
writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a
homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure
store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Contacts for Aramis
Thorn:
Novels on Amazon
Web Page: www.aramisthorn.com
Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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