Commuter Shuffle
Theme of the Week: Kindness: Mini-Investment, Mega-Payback
Bruce Larson
Monday, January 24, 2005
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: The Lord's servants …must be kind to everyone …and be patient with difficult people (2 Timothy 2:24). Bonus Reading: Ephesians 4:31-32
Hurrying home after work, I entered New York's Port Authority bus terminal, briefcase in one hand, newspaper in the other. The usual crowd was lined up behind the escalators that take suburban passengers to their buses. Just as I got to the head of the line, a hard-faced, middle-aged woman came up from my side, shoved in front of me, planted her elbow in my stomach, and stepped onto the escalator. Removing her elbow, I said with elaborate sarcasm, "Forgive me. I didn't mean to shove you."
As she turned and looked me in the eye, her face seemed to fall apart. "I don't understand," she said with apology and shock. "Why are you so nice to me? I was really rude—I shouldn't have shoved in line like that."
I was at a loss for words. The woman had reacted to my counterfeit display of love as if it were real, and appeared transformed. I began to envision this woman as a person who'd been fighting all her life for a place in line. Humiliated by the pettiness of my first reaction and overwhelmed by the effect it had produced, I gathered my wits enough to mumble, "It doesn't hurt to be nice to people." Then I ran headlong for my bus.
—Bruce Larson in The Edge of Adventure
My Response: A time when I saw kindness melt hard-heartedness was …
Adapted from The Edge of Adventure (Word, 1974) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
 share this page
Fill me with Your Spirit, Lord, so that Your love will overflow to others in thoughtful actions.
Men of Integrity
Connect with God | Transform my Mind | Live by His Power
Relate Better | Make an Impact
Home | Archives | Contact Us
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
Try an Issue of Men of Integrity
Free!
|
 |
|
No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders.
If you decide you want to keep Men of Integrity coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless.
Give Men of Integrity as a gift
Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
RSS Feed
