Faith-filled Friday

Thanks for joining us for Faith-filled Friday!

Recently I have come across several people that have been caught out in the rain. I always seem to come across them when I am on my way home. The other day I came across a girl who was skating down the street on a long-board in the rain. I had just pulled up to my home and was looking forward to getting in and taking a shower and doing some meditation. Just as I pulled up and parked, she skated by. So I started my engine back up and shouted out to her, asking if she'd like a ride. I wasn't expecting her to say yes as most times women do not take rides from men they don't know, and who can blame them?

However, she responded that she'd love a ride. So she hopped in with her skateboard and backpack and I asked her where she was going. She was on her way to the Napa Valley Roasting company, a great place for a cup of coffee and conversation.

I always look for ways to start up conversations with people. I do this partly because I believe that every person on this earth has a purpose and a message and I am always trying to understand people and what message they might have, just where they might fit into the puzzle of our society. It has led to some amazing conversations and oftentimes inspiration too.

I asked the girl if she was ok; she seemed like she was thinking about something. She said it was her mother's birthday and that she wishes that she could call her but that they were not on good terms. This hit a note with me because my mother and me also have a very strained relationship. So I asked her if she thought about maybe sending an email, a text message or just a simple letter. She said she wouldn't know what to say. I told her that I too did not always know what to say to my mother but that sometimes we don't need to say anything other than "I love you, Mom". Or just a simple Happy Birthday wish on a piece of paper. I told her that keeping it simple is sometimes just the best way but that it's always in her own interest as well as her mother's to send her love. 

Love is surely not meant to be held inward. It was meant to catch the wind and fill the sail. Wind is invisible and yet it's so powerful. Love is the same way; you can't necessarily see it but it can move things... and once it does, then you see love's powerful force and outcome. Love gives us meaning and understanding and sometimes it gives us a card or letter with only a few words.

She told me that she would send her at least a letter but would have to find an envelope. Anyhow with that she was out the door and I wished her well. On the way home I had a thought so when I got there, I hurried in the door and grabbed a notebook, a couple pens, my book of stamps and several envelopes. I put them in a big zip lock so they could stay dry and drove back to the coffee shop hoping she would still be there. When I got there she was sitting there already drinking a cup of coffee.

I handed her the bag and told her that whenever she missed home or her mother, to write a few sentences and drop it in the mail. I told her that if she'd write a small letter to her mother right there, that I would write one as well. As I got done (after her of course as I am slow) I asked her if I could get a stamp back as I'd given her all of mine. She laughed and told me how cool it was that I did that with her.  And then she asked if I could mail her letter for her. I was so honored that she'd entrust me with that letter to her mother. 

I dropped our mothers’ letters in the mail on the way home. It felt so good just to be trusted like that. In the end of this experience that girl gave me something that I really miss. I miss people in the world trusting a stranger, to believe they are going to do you right, to me trust is the most important thing. It expands love and it's the most amazing thing to be grateful for. When someone looks at you and they just know you got their back, for me, that’s an amazing feeling. I want to trust people like this and I surely want them to trust me this way. Like I said, everyone has a message to give us in the puzzle of life, even when they don't know it

~John Tam