There are a lot of good people out there…
I am always amazed at the goodness of people. I grew up reading and re-reading a Christmas picture book that had these great stories about people helping their neighbor or a stranger, only to find out at the plot twist at the end, that the stranger or neighbor was Christ Himself. That book certainly fostered a spirit of looking to recognize Christ in all kinds of different situations. It also formed my heart in the practice of intentional kindness – looking for opportunities to do a good thing for others, even if it costs of my time or talent or treasure.
The Newman Center and the Parish have been on the receiving end of such kindness recently. Donny Koviak, from Koviak tree service, at the prodding of a member of the Newman Center Board of Directors, brought his whole crew up to the Newman Center, and there proceeded to fell a huge dead tree in our yard, trim up several of the trees closest to the house, as well as put a piece of board to cover the hole where a slat fell out of the undercroft with their bucket truck. (The slat was 2 ½ stories up, above the staircase leading to the basement – making getting there with a ladder nearly impossible.) “Father, it’s no charge. Just pray for us. Work is a bit scarce and a few of our guys have some issues they could use some divine assistance on.” So, I have been praying. But I also wanted to let you know of their kindness, and should you need a tree removed, I’d recommend them highly. (Thanks also to the Boul clan for their help in the cutting up and splitting of the wood for use in our fireplace.
Our cemetery road was the recipient of two acts of generosity, plus some good leg work by Bob Beckring. Fred Weber construction gave us an unbelievable price on 65 tons of asphalt and Pace Paving company DONATED the installation of the product to complete drive that runs through the cemetery. The asphalt should keep us from having to purchase aggregate stone every 2 years to fill in the washed out and runoff rutted road, not to mention the back breaking labor to ‘install’ the rock. Thanks to Bob Beckring for making the contacts and doing some pretty effective begging for our cemetery.
As Advent continues, may we all look for opportunities to recognize the Christ in our neighbor and be the Christ to our neighbor…