PEACE ON MOUNTAIN AVENUE

Some guy approached the rear of the van I was driving today on the way to my team’s game and shut the door to where my gas cap goes. I saw him in my rear view mirror. That’s never happened before. And at the same time I was having a conversation about the lack of “Good will toward men” during Christmas time. I was focusing on the trampling crowds, the mobs of irate drivers bent on satisfying those closest to them. Turns out, I talk too much. Before I could thank the stranger, he was almost back to his vehicle. I gave him the thumbs up and yelled, “Thanks Bro!” He responded but I never saw his face. My wife and I laughed at the irony of the activity vs. our conversation. Just when you think all is depraved and that the holiday season is a ruse for monetary exploitation, some guy I’ll never see again gets out of his car at a stop light and does something cool, prompted only by either a will to help or a pet peeve toward unkempt automotive fuel compartments. Either way, it was blog worthy and left me thinking about the significance of the insignificant. There’s value in every effort, every observation and every moment – there’s still hope. You can tell because prior to the mysterious “Samaritan” appeared, one of my basketball players called me from the van leading our caravan to tell me about the gas cap door. There’s hope for this world yet.