As I waited in the early morning light for Jack-in-the-box to open, I spied a worker scrubbing down a paper stall at the curb.
Frankly, I was surprised. By the look of some of those money-grubbing contraptions, it appeared they were rarely ever cleaned.
Just as the thought crossed my mind, an elderly homeless man shuffled up and muttered to the man, "You're doing a great job".
As the paper carrier was about to recoil in horror, the curious street inhabitant rustled in his pocket and conjured up a crumpled bill.
"Here's five bucks. God bless," the street person uttered gruffly as he pressed the cash into the man's palm with a trembling hand.
Well, the startled fellow could have done one of two things, in my estimation.
He could have recognized the need of the homeless was greater than his own and politely refused the money with thanks.
Or, accepted the gift graciously.
After all, it is just as important to know how to "receive" as it is to give. Yes, on occasion people need to experience the joy of sharing, too.
In this instant case, the worker chuckled in a bemused manner, took the five bucks without hesitation, then watched the indigent man maneuver his body slowly down the pavement.
When a fellow worker returned after fussing about in a company truck, the recipient of the gift could have done one of two things - either kept the incident a secret - or shared the precious moment with his buddy.
"A guy just gave me five bucks for doing a great job cleaning the boxes," he jovially noted to his co-worker.
"Yeah, who?"
"That old guy, that homeless man over there," he chuckled wickedly.
It was obvious to me what was coming next.
His friend chided him, "Are you going to give half to me?"
After all, he was on the job, too.
"No way," the gift-getter cackled.
"This has never happened to me before in all the days I have worked on this job. The Universe is speaking to me."
In a nutshell, he was right. God appears in the humblest of places.
The Universe was not only speaking to him, but testing him as well.
In the final analysis, he failed on all counts.
Heda Bejar once said,
The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose.
