I believe that inside each one of us resides the "Spirit." It's intangible, yet it is observable and palpable in the things that we do, say, how we act, and in the ways we treat one another. We generally expect that the spirit motivates behavior in families and among friends and that it usually produces charitable behavior and benevolence between people resulting in extraordinary good will and warm feelings between them. It goes without saying that the greatest passions - both in love and ire - tend to blossom and wan with the familiar - it's easy to offer good will to those who generally return the favor - human nature, I believe, to do good for one another. The same is true for anger - it flashes quickly but is often easily forgiven and forgotten - among friends. However, I think there is no purer spirit than that which is revealed in the words and actions of a total stranger.
Today, my husband and I appeared at the USPS to apply for passports. Our daughter will be traveling abroad next semester to study in Europe during the second semester of her senior year at university. We are not well-traveled people. Honestly, we work hard every single day and frankly just enjoy being in our own home in the off hours. Packing and traveling raises my stress levels to magnanimous proportions. Anticipating the very idea of traveling across the Atlantic Ocean to visit our daughter in the spring generates indescribable anxiety for both of us - and neither of us is talking about it.
Before we could actually apply for our passports, we needed the infamous "1 inch photos" for the passports themselves, so we stopped at the UPS store to get them taken there. When we walked in there was an older woman sitting in a chair at the counter - who proudly announced that it was her daughter who would be waiting on us. She indicated (on the side) to my husband that this daughter was the best one! Anyway, while we waited for the photos to develop, we chatted with the woman and we told her about our daughter studying abroad and our intent to go visit her. (I secretly think that if we just talk about this enough, we won't be so stressed out when the time comes to fly over the ocean!)
By the time we walked out the door, we had exchanged enough information to know what each of us did the night before, about how much she liked my hair, etc. It actually was a very warm exchange. But what touched me most about this little conversation was this woman's sincere wish for us as we were exiting the store. She looked at me squarely in the eyes and offered with such seriousness that I likened it to a prayer, "I hope your trip is safe and that you have a marvelous time visiting your daughter." The sincerity of her wish froze time in my mind and I felt this enormous warmth overtake me at that moment. I smiled - and I knew - that this trip will be just fine - that it will be safe and wonderful. This woman, this stranger, had just given me a prayer. I thanked her profusely and offered her good wishes for the rest of the day.
Then we continued on to the post office (after delaying the actual application process by several months) with our papers and pictures in hand only to discover that we were exactly six minutes beyond closing for this service. When the Postal Worker saw our paperwork, however, we were told that we needed some other things and that our applications (downloaded from the web) were the wrong forms and would have to be redone. We would have to make appointments to return and complete the application process. Ugh. It already had taken us several months to get here and several hours today to find my husband's birth certificate - so here we were. Oh well, what was one more week anyway? As we both whipped out our calendars and tried to come up with a date that would work for all of us (me, my husband, and this postal clerk) she stopped, looked at us both and said, "Look, go get your copies and complete these applications by 3PM and I will do this today for you." We were so grateful for the opportunity to take care of the whole thing today that we complied, willingly. And I thought...another Angel has graced my day.
Twice in one day I was gifted by the spirits of these angels - two perfect strangers - unrelated to each other except through contact with me. And I thought to myself, how blessed I am today, and how blessed we are to have been in the presence of these two people today who generously and unselfishly offered their time and their prayers to me. Their spirits were revealed to me through action and word. I must pass it on.
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