Phillip from Milwaukee

“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. That is not our business and, in fact, it is nobody's business. What we are asked to do is to love, and this love itself will render both ourselves and our neighbors worthy.” ~Thomas Merton

Give a stranger $100.  

This has been a bucket list item of mine for a while.  For some reason, I just never got around to doing it.  And then, when Super Mom and I were planning an idea for ND Friend's birthday, I knew I had found my opportunity.

See, ND Friend is hands down the sweetest, kindest, most generous person I know.  By about a mile.  For her 30th birthday she has been making a list of 30 acts of kindness to do on her birthday.  So Super Mom and I decided that part of our gift to her would be to get in touch with 30 of her family and friends, and have each of them do one act of kindness in the 30 days leading up to her birthday.  Once the act of kindness was done, each person would write a letter to ND Friend telling her about what they did in her honor.  Pretty good, right?  (Give me zero credit....it was all Super Mom's idea!)

So prior to the date that I was assigned (April 5), I got a $100 bill out of the bank.  I wrote a little note telling the recipient all about ND Friend and why I was doing this.  And I ordered four prayer cards from the St. Therese Society--The Little Flower is one of ND Friend's favorite saints.  One for ND Friend, one for the stranger who will get the money, one for Super Mom who came up with this idea, and one for me.

And then I set out on a mission to find my stranger.  Before I went, I prayed that God would put the right person in my path, and that I would be paying attention enough to discern that.  As I waited for the right person, I focused on the Thomas Merton quote a top of this blog.  It was not for me to decide who was worthy of the money, it was not for me to wonder what they would spend it on.  It was for me to have an open heart and a desire to help.

On a random Tuesday as I was leaving the grocery store, I met Phillip from Milwaukee.  I was running late and stressed out and in a hurry.  He walked up to me in jeans and an old Raider hoodie.  He had long blonde hair that hadn't been washed in a while that was pulled back in a ponytail.  He asked if I had any change that I could spare.  "Actually," I said, "I sure do."  I handed him the prayer card with the note about ND Friend and the $100 bill tucked inside.

He opened it up, saw the money, and sighed the happiest, most relieved sigh I think I ever heard.  "Are you serious?"  He then said that another lady in the parking lot had just prayed with him that he would be able to find a way to get a room for the night.  I told him that it was pretty clear that God was on his side!

I told him I was and that I was doing this as an act of kindness in honor of my friend's birthday and that I hoped it would help him.  After hearing that, he said that he had been given four bags of Starbucks ground coffee and wanted to give it to me for my friend's birthday party.  I explained that my friend lived in Chicago so we were not having a party (ironic though that he offered coffee to ND Friend who likes that stuff more than anyone I know!) and he got all excited and said he was from Milwaukee.  Some sort of midwestern bond he felt to her in Chicago, apparently.  Next, he asked if he could hug me, and being a hugger, I of course said yes.  (For the record, I don't normally hug random men in the grocery store parking lot.)   Before he left, he asked my name, shook my hand, and said he would pray for me and ND Friend.

As I left, I just felt thankful.  Thankful for ND Friend for being such an example of kindness and charity.  Thankful for Super Mom for coming up with such a great birthday idea.  Thankful for Phillip from Milwaukee for being such a grateful recipient.  And thankful to God, for putting the right people in our paths when we open our hearts to do good.