A Simple Kindness

“You got any cans in there?!” That was the call I heard as I dumped a trash bag in the dumpster behind the church. I turned and saw a man I assumed to be a little older than myself. He was at another dumpster down the alley looking for aluminum to recycle. He was trying to get enough together so he could afford to do his laundry.

It was Sunday morning. I was running a little behind for the Men’s Prayer Breakfast. “No,” I said, "just trash."

“I like to get ‘em before they get buried and nasty if I can,” he said back. “I’m going to have to wait on laundry until Monday, maybe Tuesday, because I can’t get money for these until the recycling place opens up in the morning.”

“Have you eaten breakfast?” I asked. “We’re having a breakfast right here at the church. It should be just about ready. You are more than welcome. Come and join me.”

“I’d have to come like this. Everything else I have is dirtier than this, and I’ve been digging in the dumpsters this morning. I wouldn’t want to offend anyone.”

“You are fine. Jesus doesn’t have a dress code that I know of,” I replied.

“Well, that’s mighty nice of you,” he replied. “Most people are nice, or at least try to be. You know, there’s somebody in these apartments here who pulls out all their aluminum cans and hangs them on the corner of the dumpster here so I don’t have to crawl in here after ‘em. Now that’s nice; isn’t it? It’s like a little angel taking care of me, making life just a bit easier.”

“That is VERY thoughtful,” I replied.

Well, my new friend came and ate breakfast with the men of First Presbyterian Church. He finished his breakfast and went to complete his rounds so he could do his laundry with the money he found that we threw away. I have thought about him in the days since that morning, but I haven’t seen him around. I have thought about him and the world he is a part of, one that is so different from mine.

I have thought even more about the kind soul, anonymous still, who every week separates out their cans, not for their own benefit, but to make life just a little bit easier for my breakfast friend.

And so, whoever you are in the apartments across from the post office here in Ennis, if you are reading this, know that you are someone’s angel, that your kind gesture is noted and appreciated. I hope you are blessed, for God has certainly used you to bless someone else.

Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink, because ye are Christ's, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

Mark 9:41 ASV

Pastor Craig