“A moment of peril is often also a moment for open hearted kindness and affection.” Scott - Ivenhoe
For those of you not in northeast Ohio, we have been walloped with snow like God over manufactured it and needed a place to warehouse it for the winter. Yes, there is much wailing and grinding of teeth. But there is also the greatest opportunity for charity and many Akronites taking advantage of those opportunities.
Wednesday, my supposed day away, the thermostat went on the fritz in heaven. Between that and God storing so much of His overstock snow here school was canceled. There was also a driving ban in this county. So like all good red-blooded Americans I went driving.
Well, that is not exactly true, I made someone else drive. Wednesday is my day to have breakfast out. I get something completely unhealthy and utterly satisfying. My priest friend that usually joins me was snowed in at his parish and so I grabbed T. who has a small SUV to get me to my breakfast sausage. On our way home there was a lady stuck in a drive to a dry-cleaning and Chinese food plaza. She wasn’t going anywhere and the snow was coming down like a punishment for anyone who did not pay attention to the snow ban. T. pulled over so that we could help. We did not make a lot of progress right away and probably it was my fault. There is not a lot of traction with dress shoes when it comes to pushing cars out of snow drifts.
But fear not, soon people were appearing from everywhere and soon we had a small army with an arsenal of shovels to come to the fair damsel’s assistance. (I did have to find out if the emergency drive was for or Chinese food. It was the Chinese food.) After she got out she was waved on lest she stop and get stuck again and everyone went their ways with smiles and waves – no tips – not thank yous – just the satisfaction of doing a good deed in a desperate situation.
This was not by any means the only wonderful occurrence in the city or even the most interesting. Just typical. And being typical we had the opportunity to show our best side. And that alone made the storm worth it.
We know we (meaning humanity) are capable of great things. In times like this we can even see sainthood possible in others.
For those of you not in northeast Ohio, we have been walloped with snow like God over manufactured it and needed a place to warehouse it for the winter. Yes, there is much wailing and grinding of teeth. But there is also the greatest opportunity for charity and many Akronites taking advantage of those opportunities.
Wednesday, my supposed day away, the thermostat went on the fritz in heaven. Between that and God storing so much of His overstock snow here school was canceled. There was also a driving ban in this county. So like all good red-blooded Americans I went driving.
Well, that is not exactly true, I made someone else drive. Wednesday is my day to have breakfast out. I get something completely unhealthy and utterly satisfying. My priest friend that usually joins me was snowed in at his parish and so I grabbed T. who has a small SUV to get me to my breakfast sausage. On our way home there was a lady stuck in a drive to a dry-cleaning and Chinese food plaza. She wasn’t going anywhere and the snow was coming down like a punishment for anyone who did not pay attention to the snow ban. T. pulled over so that we could help. We did not make a lot of progress right away and probably it was my fault. There is not a lot of traction with dress shoes when it comes to pushing cars out of snow drifts.
But fear not, soon people were appearing from everywhere and soon we had a small army with an arsenal of shovels to come to the fair damsel’s assistance. (I did have to find out if the emergency drive was for or Chinese food. It was the Chinese food.) After she got out she was waved on lest she stop and get stuck again and everyone went their ways with smiles and waves – no tips – not thank yous – just the satisfaction of doing a good deed in a desperate situation.
This was not by any means the only wonderful occurrence in the city or even the most interesting. Just typical. And being typical we had the opportunity to show our best side. And that alone made the storm worth it.
We know we (meaning humanity) are capable of great things. In times like this we can even see sainthood possible in others.
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I'm linking to this post, Father...
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