Blessed By Carlos
ServiceSpace
--Sarah Mozelle
2 minute read
Jan 13, 2014

 

Last week I was on my way to an appointment and at the last minute decided to take an alternate route. It led me to a stoplight at the freeway entrance where a Vietnam Veteran was sitting with a sign asking for help. I rolled my window down and offered him the snack I had prepared for myself and he seemed grateful, but his eyes still held sadness. I felt caught in the charity vs service split and with quick thinking, I was able to grab a smile card. I told him that I had something else that was much better than a snack and gave him the card, explaining that it turned him into a powerful giver instead of a taker. He lit up and I asked his name... Carlos, and I reminded him that he had a lot to give including his smile, wishes to others entering the freeway to have a good day, holding doors open for people and that smile card was a magic ticket to empower him. He was beaming ear to ear and I asked if I could take his photo and he happily agreed.



This entire interchange was less than a minute while the light was red. The arrow turned green and I drove away, as transformed as Carols appeared to be, hoping the spiritual nourishment I offered would sustain him more deeply and permanently than a snack would. As I contemplated my experience, I realized that the route I chose took me along Union Avenue where I met him. I smiled at the poetic beauty of the universe using a street name to me of the sacred union amidst all life, where there is no other, where there is no giver or receiver. 

 

 

Posted by Sarah Mozelle on Jan 13, 2014


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