Christmas time puts many extra items on everyone’s to-do list. Our brains quickly clutter with gift ideas, entertaining opportunities, and pressing errands. As we go about our usual responsibilities, seasonal tasks take priority while everything else slides.

A few days ago, after yanking a stack of cash from the local ATM, I pulled into the bank lot to organize my wallet and prioritize my errands. As I sat with a wad of bills in one hand, my list and a pen in the other, I saw in my periphery vision a man approaching my car. “Now what,” I thought.

He rapped on the frosty window, and I looked up from my organizational work through irritated eyes. He smiled, then pressed something flat against the window for me to see: my ATM card.

Racing to start my errands, I’d forgotten to pull the card from the machine. This kind man had done it for me and amazingly had noticed my running car in the nearby lot. If he’d chosen to keep the card, he could have headed for the nearest Walmart and gone on a spending spree, since I’d recently made a large deposit to cover a college tuition bill.

Feeling ashamed of myself, I rolled down the window and accepted the card. He smiled and said, “I thought you might need this.”

Last week I blogged about my friend Melanie performing 38 random acts of kindness. The man who returned my card was doing one, too, expecting nothing in return. I wish I’d thought to give him a reward. Then I would’ve had the fun of participating in a random act of kindness, too.

Jesus was the perfect model of performing kindnesses. He healed, blessed, taught, served and did a variety of miracles for the benefit of others. One lavish kindness was feeding a mob of hungry people by miraculously dividing five rolls and two fish to generate food for all.

As the disciples walked among the masses distributing that meal, did Jesus’ hands get tired breaking off bits of bread and fish? There were 5000 men there that day, with women and children probably doubling it. Since all were satisfied after the meal, he probably “broke the bread” (i.e. tore off many thousands of pieces) with human fingers that surely got sore.

Did he receive anything in return? Although the story is told in all four Gospels, none mentions that Jesus even got to eat his own meal that day.

During this season of Christmas gift-giving, each time I pull out my ATM card I’ll think of the stranger and his random act of kindness. But I’ll also think of Jesus, who went out of his way to be kind to others…. and is still doing it today.

“God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

Praising and Praying with Mary

We are all praising God tonight for the safe delivery of Anders James! God is good!