Choose Love

I again spent much of my day drawing characters for the book I am illustrating. This blog picture is the sketch of the dog who will be in the series. He looks suspiciously like our Lucky when he was younger. I also spent a good portion of the day dealing with salespeople. I had a problem with an order and was put on hold for about an hour off and on over the course of three or four phone calls.

My cousin Sue who is a Newtown, Connecticut resident and approaching the year anniversary of the horrific school shooting has been an inspiration to me. She, and the whole town, have been practicing random acts of kindness since that terrible day. Their motto is: Choose Love. They are consciously and individually trying to spread love instead of hate -- their response to the evil that filled their little town with the shooting. One thing Sue mentioned that she does is to be extra kind to the cashiers she comes across during her day.

I thought perhaps I could do that. During the rather frustrating hours of trying to iron out the problems with my phone order, I thought of Sue. As I was taken briefly off hold by the woman who had kept me on hold for 15 minutes, I asked her, "Are you all ready for Christmas?" There was a moment of silence. Almost suspicious silence. I think she was taken aback. I think she expected cursing. We chatted quite some time about christmas shopping and the merits of doing it early in the year.

Next, I moved on to the post office. Everyone knows that mailing packages three weeks before Christmas is crazy time. I stood quietly in line, but not every one did. Several people tried to cut in line. Some huffed and puffed and then in a fury, fled from the premises, stomping their feet. By the time I reached the counter, the mail lady looked tired.

I thought of cousin Sue.
"Busy day?" I said.
"Awfully busy!" she said, "Has been all week."
"And will be till Christmas," I laughed.
"You got that right," she said.
"Well I guess being busy is better than having nothing to do," I offered.
"Well if the customers would just realize it is always busy this time of year and they should be prepared to wait."
"Yes they should!" I agreed.
She smiled at me, and handed me my postage and receipt.
"Have a merry Christmas," I said.
"You too," she said, and honestly, she seemed less weary.

Such little moments of saying something to strangers as though they were friends may not change the world. But it might change that person's next few minutes. It is a start.

That phone saleswoman who I chatted with about Christmas never did solve my problem, by the way. But this morning when I checked email, I had been sent a $10 gift certificate from her. Ripples of kindness...

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And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. (Colossians 3:14-17 KJV)





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