Unexpected acts of kindness can have unforeseen, lasting effects
Three months ago, my brother-in-law Dan lost his wife to a long illness that took her from us way too soon. Polly was an amazing person. She was outgoing, had an easy laugh and fun-loving personality. She cared deeply about others and was always up for adventure. I can honestly say the world is dimmer without her.
Polly’s celebration of life recently took place in Dayton, Ohio. Dan flew up there from north Florida and was heartened by the large number of people who turned out and spoke upliftingly about her. Yet there was still an emptiness haunting him as he flew back home.
During that flight, a chance encounter with a total stranger brought him comfort in an unexpected way.
Abby, his seat-mate, was a 20-something engineering student at Texas A&M University. She was flying home to Houston from Dayton after travelling there for the one-year anniversary of the passing of her stepfather. She was to start her senior year of college the next day.
Dan and Abby introduced themselves and settled into a casual conversation about the reasons for their trips. They talked briefly, speaking maybe 30 or 40 words before Abby put on her earbuds during the 60-minute flight to their Atlanta stopover.
“I gave no indication I was hurting,” Dan said. “She must have had a sixth sense.”
He saw Abby scribbling a note on a napkin, cupping it as if trying to hide what she wrote. He had no idea about its subject matter but noticed she was putting a lot of thought into it. When she finished, Abby neatly folded her note and put it aside.
As the plane landed and they arrived at the gate, the young woman handed the note to Dan, who stood to get both of their belongings from the overhead.
“For some very strange reason I said, ‘Thank you. I was hoping that was for me,’” he said. “I read it as soon as I exited the jetway and was on the concourse.”
Here’s the message Abby wrote:
“I don’t know if you believe in God. I do, and I hope you do, too. But I also believe we can hear His voice, and I feel like He wanted to encourage you with something.
He has prepared a place for your wife, and He is currently preparing a place for you when the time comes. But He’s also prepared a place for you on earth here, right now. Though this valley may be deep, He has prepared a place of purpose and refuge for you. You are not left without purpose, you are not left without hope. And you are not alone. I pray the comfort of our heavenly Father that can fill all places and brokenness (will) be with you.”
Abby had paraphrased Romans 15:13, which reads, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)
As an agnostic, Dan didn’t see Abby’s note as a sign or message from God. But he was floored by the exceptional kindness of a very young woman who didn’t even know him.
He said he recognized the note as “a kind gesture from someone, a real person just like me, in the here and now, that did a real nice deed and happens to be someone of faith.”
There are many of us who would have said, “Sorry for your loss” or something to that effect and turned to read a magazine. Others would have never bothered to engage in conversation at all. But this woman, as young as she was, was moved to speak volumes in a short little note on a napkin.
We all could learn from her fine example.
I don’t know how you see this. I believe in God and that He demonstrates His presence in our lives all the time. But that’s not really the point, is it?
Whether we see Abby’s note as an inspiration from God or the simple kind gesture of a stranger, one thing is clear: Unexpected acts of kindness can have unforeseen, lasting effects. The world needs more people like Abby.
Lois Kindle is a freelance writer and columnist for The Observer News. Contact her at lois@observernews.net.
