Sometimes when you least expect it, the Beautiful and the Good just finds you...
My daughter and I went out for dinner yesterday. When we got to the restaurant, the hostess seated us in a booth with a view of the parking lot. I'd have preferred a more private or scenic setting in which to dine - but within moments of sitting down at our table, I found myself giving silent thanks for the profound blessing of our location.
As we waited for our meal to arrive, I noticed a sedan pull into the Handicapped parking space just outside the window where we were seated. I watched as an elderly woman emerged from the driver's seat, set her purse on the roof of the car, and then made her way around to the trunk. She was stylishly dressed, and probably weighed no more than 100 pounds. The lady opened the trunk, then slowly lifted a folded-up wheelchair out of the trunk and placed it on the pavement. It was only then that I looked back in the car and noticed an elderly gentleman sitting quietly in the passenger's seat. The woman slowly unfolded the wheelchair and set it up.
There was something indescribably beautiful and peaceful about the poise with which this Being went about her task. I sensed she'd performed this exact drill countless times before - and with that repetition had come a certain grace of movement. My mind wandered for a few moments, and I visualized scenes from the couple's Wedding Day, many decades ago. I saw them performing their vows "...for better and for worse, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live." I smiled as they raised champagne glasses and toasted their love for one another. In that moment, I felt in my own heart the depth and sincerity of the commitment she had made that day.
Back in the present moment, she had pushed the wheelchair around to the passenger side of the car and begun to help her husband out of the car. He was a large man, and he moved very slowly and deliberately. With one hand on the wheelchair and the other helping her husband, this lovely woman somehow got him out of the car and into the wheelchair. He nodded his approval as she locked the car, retrieved her purse, then began to push him toward the sidewalk. A few minutes later, I saw them coming through the front door of the restaurant. The hostess led them to a table just 10 feet away from where I was eating with my daughter, and I watched again as the woman helped her husband get settled for dinner.
My mind wandered again, and I intuitively sensed how frequently variations of this exercise repeated themselves on a regular basis: get him out of the bed or the EZ chair and into the wheelchair. Push him to the car. Get him out of the wheelchair and into the car. Put the wheelchair back in the trunk. Get the wheelchair out of the trunk, get him out of the car and back into the wheelchair. Push him to wherever. As I saw these scenes playing out over and over every day, my heart swelled with the same compassion that this woman must feel for her beloved husband. Her entire aura radiated loving - and a peaceful resolve to serve...beautifully.
After we had finished our meal and I had paid the bill, I told my daughter to follow me. I waited until the elderly couple were between bites, then I approached their table. I gently touched the gentleman on the shoulder and excused myself for interrupting their meal. He nodded, then smiled broadly as I knelt down next to him and told him how inspired I had been by his wife's dignity and grace. We agreed that he was a most fortunate man to be married to such a beautiful, loving partner. She blushed and said "we make a great team, and I know he'll be out of that chair and walking again in no time." I thanked them both for their gift of inspiration, then we left them alone to share their evening together.
As soon as we were outside the restaurant, my daughter asked "why did you go talk to those people?" I explained that whenever we are blessed to witness the truly Beautiful and Good up close and personal, we have an obligation as spiritually-minded beings to not only notice it or recognize it as such, but to openly acknowledge it - and if at all possible to celebrate it with the very people who are giving us the gift in that moment. The simple truth is, we are surrounded by beauty and good, in one form or another, in every moment. We just need to be conscious of it, and then share it with one another until it expands and touches everyone.
Allow yourself to look for the Beautiful and Good every day, to find it in the most unusual or unexpected places, to be inspired by it - and then resolve to acknowledge it, celebrate it, and share it with others.
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