The Goodness in Me Bows to the Goodness in You.

There is so much kindness and goodness in our world.  I want to take a few moments to celebrate this.

There is Ginny, the enthusiastic bone-building exercise class leader in her late 70's, joyfully guiding a bunch of us this morning in the basement of the local town hall.  A volunteer, Ginny's eyes sparkle as she leads us in leg lifts with weights tied around our ankle.  Between moves, she tells us about her zumba class at the YMCA, wiggling her hips while she does a side step salsa move.  She LOVES to move and exercise.  After the class, she offers to bring me as a guest to her zumba class, so happy to share what "makes every day better."

There's the young man, not even 20, in the produce aisle of the supermarket, so present as he helps me look for a particular brand of hummus, and so pleased when we find it.  I encounter him again unpacking boxes when I am reaching for a bottle of "Naked Juice," for which I have a special coupon.  When I pick up the one called, "Blue Machine," to read its label, he shyly says (I had not asked), "I like that one a lot."  I nod, put it into my cart.  When I thank him for all his help today, the boy-man pauses, looks right at me, and smiles so widely I feel a smile spread through my whole body in response.

When I inquire, the supermarket florist carefully explains the care of a colorful houseplant on sale.  She agrees to set aside the plant-of-the-week for me while I go pick up a few other things.  She is not there when I return, so I take the plant from the counter along with two bunches of flowers on weekly special. The florist seeks and finds me at the self-checkout, asking if—to protect them— she might wrap the plant and flowers for me.  She waits for me to check them out then fills her arms and heads back to her turf while I continue scanning bar codes.  I have told her I will come to her to pick these up.  Just after I enter my debit pin, she appears arms outstretched, smiling broadly—as if grateful to me.

I come back into the store for some forgotten items and this time choose the express line. As the cashier, a sparkly-eyed woman with a pixie haircut, is taking my Stop'n'Shop card, she pauses, looks up, and asks like it really matters to her, "How are you?"   Paralyzed on her left side, she completes her task one-handedly, rolling my organic apples over so she can read then type in their bar code, etc.  She is smiling widely the whole time like there is nowhere she would rather be.  Like she is so happy just being her, here now—with me.  Thanking me genuinely for bagging, she (despite the line forming) pauses to look at me again, this time genuinely wishing me a great day—just as I saw her do with the woman in line before me.

I could tell you about the acting manager at the Radio Shack store and the young woman at the Starbucks stand in the market, both of them eagerly serving me.  God, how many people seen and unseen serve me everyday!  Sure, some aren't happy where they are and may withhold.   But most of them are giving their energy 100% to their service.  There is little outer lustre and attention for them, no big worldly reward or stature.  But there is another kind of stature: the stature of simple, integrity, of serving with kindness and even love.   I am grateful to be the recipient of their service even when I am not conscious of what is being offered behind the scenes every moment of my day—much of it by the very office bureaucrats about whom I have grumbled and even resented.  So good to be reminded.  Namaste:  God in me bows to God in you. The goodness in me bows to the goodness in you...