We settled into our seats at the local coffee shop to catch up on the latest news. James had seen his fair share of rough spots in life. Prison, mental health issues, struggling to hold a full time job.\u00a0 As we talked we were interrupted by someone sitting next to us, \u201cDo you know how much a Timbit costs?\u201d James and I looked at each other for a moment, \u201cJust a few cents.\u201d There was no verbal response from the next table, just a nod.\u00a0 I had not paid any attention to our neighbour till then.\u00a0 He had no coffee, was dressed in an old weary coat that matched the tired worn look on his face. It wasn\u2019t a stretch to assume he was there just to find a warm place to hang out on that cold December day.<\/p>\n
James leaned over to me, \u201cI am going to buy him a coffee and donut\u201d. Turning to his neighbour James offered a coffee and a donut.\u00a0 The response was quick, \u201cDark roast, triple cream and a honey donut.\u201d We both smiled at each other as James went off to fill the order.\u00a0 Soon he was back.\u00a0 He offered the coffee and donut and was met with a quiet, \u201cThank you\u201d. As James and I continued our conversation I couldn\u2019t help but reflect on the years James and I had known each other, both in prison<\/p>\n
It is almost as if the hardships, pain, rejection and failures of life have crafted and shaped a special kind of care for people others ignore. James sized up his neighbour quickly.\u00a0 His actions, although miniscule on a worldly scale of good deeds, was in some respects a major deal.\u00a0 It spoke about the decisions he had made in life. Decisions not to let the struggles and difficulties of life continue to encase his heart in stone. Instead, he let the losses and pain craft a heart of compassion and care for others.<\/p>\n
Jesus words wandered through my mind, \u201cTruly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me\u201d. The word that repeatedly catches my attention is \u201cwhatever\u201d.\u00a0 We often miss the profound wisdom of using a word like whatever.\u00a0 \u201cWhatever\u201d sets no limits on how big or small the act is. It simply doesn\u2019t matter. The very act itself reveals something about the one offering it, whether it is big or small.<\/p>\n
On occasion, when I have been asked about what I do, the response is met with a smile and an unvoiced question, \u201cWhy would you ever work with those people\u201d? The answer is simple. It lies in watching someone you have invested time and energy in, someone who was written off years ago, someone who once had a heart encased in stone, offering \u201cwhatever\u201d to another human being.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We settled into our seats at the local coffee shop to catch up on the latest news. James had seen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-open-circle"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":546,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544\/revisions\/546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.initiativesjc.org\/wpblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}