Day 27 - Have You Had A Kindness Shown? Pass It On...

"Have You Had A Kindness Shown?" -- author unknown

Have you had a kindness shown?

Pass It on....

'Twas not meant for Thee alone...

Pass It on...

Let it Travel Down the Years,

Let it Wipe Another's Tears,

Until at Last the Deed Appears,

Pass it On...

This poem hangs in my childhood home next to the front door. One of my extended family members meticulously penned it out in fancy script on fancy paper, then framed it and gave it as a gift to my mother years and years ago.

I memorized that poem when I was young. It struck a deep cord within me...the fact that a kind deed can be "passed on."

Once, I was in line at a checkout at the grocery store. In front of me was an elderly woman who had her cart full of carefully picked out groceries. After the cashier gave this gray-haired, hunch-backed grandmotherly figure her total, I could see the surprise in her eyes. She remarked, "Oh, dear. I don't have enough money. I'll have to put most of it back."

The cashier was a bit annoyed. She had been on her feet most of the day, was tired and looking forward to her relief shift, standing nearby.

As the elderly woman began pulling items out of her grocery bags to be taken off of her ticket, I saw how sad she looked. She, too, must've been tired and ready to go back to her home where she could sit in her rocking chair and relax. It must've taken her a while to walk the aisles and place this many items into her basket.

I interrupted: "Here, let me pay. I have extra money in my account, and I would like you to have these groceries."

Both the elderly woman and the cashier were dumbfounded....as well as those standing nearby who heard.

The elderly woman tried to dissuade me...but I wasn't going to budge. I had just received a large check from a recent job, and I really did have a few extra dollars.

"No, this is my gift to you. Just promise me that, in the future, you will Pass It On..."

I paid for her groceries with my personal check. The old woman gave me a smile, and walked out the double sliding doors towards her car with the bag boy in tow.

"Wow, nobody has ever done that before that I know...and I've been here for nearly 10 years," remarked the cashier.

I replied, "Well, it's my pleasure."

I bought my own groceries and left the store, feeling good about myself and the kind deed the Lord had allowed me to perform.

A few days later, a letter addressed to me and from the grocery store was in my mail box. Inside was a check for $100 and a letter that said, "Because of your kind generosity, we would like to thank you, our valued customer."

James 1:27...look that one up!