– Monday Muse –
Dear One, this morning the scene I would like to share with you looked very much like the one pictured above. The sun was out, the sky was blue, and the still snow-covered roads had been plowed. It was a crisp, bright, invigorating winter’s day – surrounded by a gorgeous blanket of snow, with a bright sky above – hey, what’s not to love!
Our only outlet to town connects with a curve, an often slippery one. That day, as I approached the stop sign at the curve, I was exceedingly cautious. I had too many times witnessed the results of an out-of-control driver…an abandoned car in the ditch, or in the field, or burrowed deep into a snow bank. After I had gotten my car to a safe and complete stop, I waited for an oncoming car to maneuver from the curve onto the lane beside me. While doing so, I watched what all drivers fear might happen. The car began to slide – straight toward me. The drivers’ side of each car, one facing west, the other east, were on a collision coarse. An impact was inevitable. I held my breath. The car stopped – inches from my window. There we sat, two-drivers, nearly shoulder-to-shoulder.
Before the man turned to face me, he had the miserable expression of an unbeliever about to face the Final Judgment. When he turned, and found me smiling, smiling in relief, relief for the two of us, he instantly relaxed, his eyes brightened, seemingly breaking the chains of self-condemnation. Without a break in the sequence, a striking smile spread across his face, one which added to the brightness of the day. With eyes aglow, faces only inches apart, a transcendent bond of mutual appreciation formed. We drove away, in opposite directions, touched by humankind. Humans were designed by God to be kind for we were made in His image. Genesis 1:27
I drove on toward town, thinking about what a warm smile had done for me and the other driver. He looked as though the near accident had almost made his day. Could it be that was his first kindhearted encounter of the day?
I took the curves between Twin Lakes as cautiously as I could, and made it without incident to Meijer, a mega store. There I quickly found a convenient parking spot. Just as I pulled in, a woman in the car facing me, made it evident that that particular parking spot belonged to her. I responded with an apologetic smile, and she amazed me with a surprising shrug of her shoulders, and an accepting smile. It was as if she said, “Honey, I know. I know. You win some, you lose some.”
With the emotional high from the beauty of the freshly fallen snow and brilliant sunshine, and all the milk of human-kindness flowing around, I was primed for the next encounter, only seconds away.
A father, in his late twenties, was walking beside me toward the entrance, carrying a well cared for, snow-suited little bundle of about eight-months. The child was looking over his father’s shoulder at me, when the father leaned into him and kissed his little, rosy cheek. As the father did, he noticed me smiling at the two of them. He looked back at the child, and back at me, and then smiled…‘that smile’…the one which declares to all a fervent love for humankind.
It was indeed a very special day. Hey, what’s not to love! And yes, from me, the Meijer greeter received an especially hearty response to his greeting, “Welcome to Meijer.” It’s a wonder that he did not get a kiss!
“Beloved, let us love one another;
for love is of God.” 1 John 4:7
Blessings,
Susanne
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