Minister’s Column

One day this week I was in a bad mood. I was tired. I remembered that a friend had said that taking a nap rarely does any harm, so I was wise enough to try that. After a short nap I decided there was enough daylight left to go skiing, and on the way there I stopped to get gas.

It was a cold day. As I was pumping my gas, a man was searching through the trash can for cans and bottles to recycle for the deposit money. I said hello. “There’s 30 cents.” He says to me, putting the third bottle in his bag. “I been coming through the park and looking for cans to recycle. Sometimes people put valuable stuff in the trash.”

“I’m doing the best I can with what I’ve got,” he says to me. “I’m trying to stay positive.”

We talked for a few more minutes while I pumped my gas. I was hoping I had a five dollar bill in my wallet to give him, but when I looked I only had a one and a twenty. I gave him a dollar. “Maybe this will help you,” I said to him. “I’m doing the best with what I’ve got,” he repeats. “I’m trying to stay positive.”

Later that day, and again the next day, I reflected on what turned my day around–I was so grouchy and down early in the day, and the afternoon and evening were really good. It might have been the nap. It might have been the skiing. And I know it was the perspective I got from this man at the gas station, combing the trash for bottles and cans.
 
PRAYER:
God of love and light, may warmth and safety come to all those who are outside in the cold, those who have little and are in need.

May I always be receptive to the wisdom and truth of another human being, wherever I encounter them.

May we all be blessed by the wisdom and truth that we are doing the best we can with what we have. May we all try to stay positive.

Amen.
 
Rev. Andrew Frantz