something of the Divine

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

At the Abbey today, Troy shared a story with us. He’d been up the previous night visiting with his sister until the late hours of the evening. A couple came by the house and asked for a few dollars to help pay for a hotel. He described his response to their request, not as dismissive or as contemplative/discerning, but instead as playful and intriguing. He gave the couple some flowers his wife had received at her baby shower that afternoon, leftover food from the fridge, and some money. His intention was not to find out exactly how they spent the money because he was giving it in good faith and it was their choice how they used what he was offering. He also mentioned that it isn’t everyday he feels led to act in that way, but sometimes ya do just feel the best option is to share what you’ve been given, without condition, and give the askers your blessing-in full truth.

Later this evening, as I was headed to the grocery store to do the weekly shopping for our house, I encountered the Divine. Although I’d originally planned to shop at the Edgewood Plaza so I wouldn’t have to deal with the pain of not being able to find everything on the list or waiting in long checkout lines, a feeling inside told me that I needed to go to the Kroger in my part of town. So instead of getting on the road to the interstate, I kept driving down Metropolitan and took Abernathy to the Cascade Kroger (not the way I usually go). A man sitting in a wheelchair was at the entrance to the shopping center and since my windows were down, I spoke to him as I drove into the parking lot. He said hello and asked if I had 75 cents I wasn’t using. I pulled into a parking spot and he parked his wheelchair next to my driver’s side window and introduced himself, Alfonso is his name. I gave him the only 3 quarters in my vehicle and introduced myself as well. We talked for ten minutes or so. He noticed my Tennessee license plate asked if I was new to the area, to which I replied I’ve lived here almost a year now. Wow, has it been that long already? When I told him what neighborhood I lived in, he asked why I hadn’t come from the street on the far side of the lot, so I shared with him the feeling that convinced me to come to our Kroger and not go elsewhere. What I realized later, in relating this experience to my roommate, was that I was probably encouraged not to get on the interstate so that this encounter with Alfonso would be possible. He asked about college and my area of study. I said I was in recreational therapy and he pointed to his legs, and asked, “Oh, so you work with people like me?” “Yeah,” I told him, “and I ‘m looking for a job.” He wanted to know if I had applied for a job at the Shepherd Center, Emory, or Grady. I have applied at Emory and the Shepherd Center, but I said I hadn’t heard back from either place. HE shared with me a little about his experience at the Shepherd Center and how, “You learn so much there. I didn’t want to leave after 3 months, but knew I had to go.” And he said it’s the best place to work, especially because he guessed that I was a people-person. I asked why he assumed I was. He knew from the way I looked at him and talked to him-not the way most people do. And then, as he looked up at the sky and decided to go before it began raining, he prophesized that I would do great things and help people in my work and in my life. I thanked him and shook his hand.

Alfonso had something of the Divine in him and today I saw it.