Two things Bob hated to do: go to the dentist and deal with the Department of Motor Vehicles. He’d already had his semiannual dental checkup. Now he had to visit the DMV.
When the wizard Gandalf shows up at Bilbo Baggins’ door at the beginning of The Hobbit, Bilbo greets him: “We don’t want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water. . . . Sorry! Thank you. Not today. Good morning!”
Taking Saint Paul’s teaching to heart, Sam woke up praising God’s glory. He thanked God for the beautiful summer sun and the gentle breeze wafting through his window. As he washed his face, he was overcome with gratitude for the life-giving water on his skin. He buried his head in a soft cotton towel and breathed deeply.
"I‘ve brought you the Eucharist,” says Joseph, the head catechist for the Diocese of Leribe in the African country of Lesotho, to a group of elderly villagers. In addition to his service as eucharistic minister, he also visits the sick, holds prayer meetings, and teaches, including instructing those preparing for Baptism.
“You’re a lawyer?!” I say to Geoff. By the look on his face, there was too much astonishment in my voice, and I immediately try to smooth over my reaction. “That’s impressive,” I say cheerfully. “Must be rewarding.”
"What on earth are you talking about?” Linda demanded of her 5-year-old, Hanna. The little girl had been going on and on about her new puppy, the one she’d just gotten for her birthday. “It only turns right,” she reiterated to her confused mother.
Laura was on a crowded subway train one morning, sipping a coffee and enjoying her morning newspaper. She noticed a pregnant woman standing in the aisle. Laura offered her seat. “I’m pregnant, not disabled,” the indignant woman huffed.
I see him, cup in hand, every time I drive past that corner. He works it well every day, rain or shine, getting to know the regulars like me who are willing to roll down our windows and give him a dollar or two. I learned his name and he sometimes got close to pronouncing mine correctly.
Generosity, Saint Paul tells the Corinthians, has a lot to do with equality. Because you have more, and others are in need, it makes sense to balance things out—to take from your surplus to make up for another’s deficit.
Daniel and his sister Daniela have been blind since birth, the consequence of a genetic disease. They were born in a rural area of Ghana, where resources are scarce and disease runs rampant. Before Daniel reached his teen years, his father died, and his mother struggled to keep herself and her four children alive.