“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
~ Anonymous, Holy Bible: King James Version
Yesterday morning, very early, my husband took me out to an inner-city cafe for a good coffee. We took a sidewalk table, and Ben went inside to place our order.
While I waited for him a young man came around the corner, his eyes red rimmed, his distress obvious for all to see although he was doing his best to hold things together.
He walked across to a post office box and checked for mail, and then walked past me again. Just a few feet further on he stopped in front of a shop window, his shoulders heaving with silent sobs. A moment later he crammed his fist in his mouth to stop from wailing.
“God, honestly…” a patron at another table complained loudly. “Gay men are just so dramatic. Go home, sweetheart!”
Before I knew what I was doing I was up and on my feet, rummaging for a clean tissue in my pocket. I put my hand on the young man’s arm.
“Are you alright?” I asked.
He shook his head. No. No, he wasn’t. The absolute agony on his face was heart-rending.
I pulled him in and held in my arms, and let him cry on my shoulder until there were no more tears to cry. I gave him the tissue.
“Will you be okay?” I whispered.
He nodded. “Yeah. Thanks,” he whispered back, squeezing my hand and trying his best to smile. “My dad just died. I hadn’t spoken to him since… well, you know. I loved him anyway. He was my dad.”
We hugged again, and he went on his way. Ben came out and we sat back down.
“Who was that?” my husband asked. “Was he okay?”
“He’ll be fine,” I said, sipping my coffee.
“Did you know him?” my husband pressed.
“Not personally, but my heart I did,” I answered.
When we are brave enough to be open and vulnerable – when we meet heart to heart, soul to soul – we are never strangers, we are only love.
You being here makes the world a better place. Be love today.
