Be Kind To Strangers. You Just Never Know. 10/18/2023

 Good Morning,

I am not working today, so I started on my blog later than usual. My cup was just filled with Door County Vanilla Cappuccino Coffee and it is time to write. 

                                                                     Photo Credit U. S, National Park Service.

I take all 66 books held within the Bible as God's Holy Word. I believe every passage to be true. The following Scripture has always captured my mind and I recall it quite often. I find that it is one which is quoted often by others as well. 

Hebrews 13:1-2 Let brotherly love continue. 2. Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. 

I have experienced a few times in my life that I cannot explain. One such time was while my wife Rene and I were on a trip to Philadelphia. I was attending a conference for work and Rene tagged along. The three day conference was finished each day at 2:30 pm so it allowed for some site seeing in the City Of Brotherly Love. Rene would travel out each morning from our hotel and acquire her breakfast and she would walk to the sites close to our hotel where the conference was being held. On the first day she told me that she had stopped at a bank to pick up some one dollar bills and two rolls of quarters. She explained her need for the money was to give each homeless person she encountered a dollar and two quarters. She said she ran out of money quickly and needed to go to a bank. 

The next day Rene took a tour bus that went to all the historical sites. Each day after my conference and her excursion she would return to the hotel and she would take me to a point of interest in Philadelphia and tell me about what she learned while we were walking. On the last day we left the city and made it to Valley Forge by car.

Now let me tell you what happened while walking on day two with my wife. That afternoon she was already out of dollar bills and quarters when we were half way to the Liberty Bell. We encountered a very scruffy looking man who asked for some help. I explained that we were out of money, which happened to not be true. We were out of singles and change but we had other bills which were larger in value. He thanked us anyway and we walked away. Within three steps Rene grabbed my arm and said "Let's give him ten dollars. I just know we are supposed to do that. And let's pray with him." She did not say, pray for him. She said with him. It was only a few seconds before I turned around and the man was nowhere to be seen. It was virtually impossible for him to be anywhere but on that street. Rene looked at me and I looked at her. I said to her. "Oh no. We blew it. I think we were tested and failed." Rene agreed that we encountered an angel and being kind to that one required more than a dollar fifty. Our hearts had been tested. No way could a human being disappear on that street and be out of view so quickly. 

You just never know who came to the door of your heart. Be sure to answer. 

Marty