Impressions

   Jesus said whatever you do for the least of my brothers, you did for me. Reading Mother Theresa and all her work with the sick, destitute, and poor, makes you understand that she took this scripture literally. What it must feel like to help so many people. Most of us have a hard enough time helping ourselves. But there are countless others that are poor and hungry in need of help. You here stories like the “Blindside” but somehow we just go on with our daily lives. I mean who would let a stranger into there home? But really that’s how Jesus and his Apostles lived by the kindness of strangers. Of course, Jesus performed a few miracles along the way. He took the time to heal the sick. To lay his hands on the poor and feed them. Jesus said the poor are his people. That's why it's so important to be generous and give to people in need. But it's not just the poor we can show kindness to. It's everyone that God puts in our path or in our lives. That’s why it’s so important to remember a time when people showed strangers hospitality as part of there way of life. For hospitality means the generous reception and entertainment of guest, visitors, and strangers.

   My husband and I are driving along were lost and I have to go to the bathroom. We see an old antique shop with an old woman sitting in front of it. Maybe there’s a bathroom in there that I could use. We stop and ask the lady if she has a bathroom I could use. She says no, she’s just waiting for someone to bring her the keys so she can open the shop. I say thank you anyway. But then she looks at me, like she just got an idea.

   She tells me to have my husband park the car and come next store with us. He does so and she unlocks the door next store and we walk up a long flight of stairs were there is a bathroom at the top of the stairs. She ushers me into the other doorway. My husband follows us. Her home is beautiful with a large glass window running across the living room that over looks the bay. The furniture is melon colored leather sofa and three matching chairs that must of been custom ordered. 

  I tell her my name is Grace and she says her name is Agatha. I say “It’s very nice to meet you” She says the bathroom is behind the kitchen the first door on your right. I go because I’m about to burst and I leave my husband to chit chat with Agatha. This bathroom has monogrammed towels and is black and white. Very beautiful and large like a bathroom in a spacious home.

   As I come out of the bathroom, my husband was saying we were looking for a good place to eat. Were not from the area and are a bit lost right now. Agatha says “ You can have lunch with me Grace. I would enjoy the company.” After a few objections about her comfort. We accepted her offer for lunch. It sounds crazy but she was so gracious and nice how could we refuse. Agatha told us that she was waiting for the shop owner to bring her the keys to the shop. She said “ He must be running late so I’ll go ahead and have my lunch and see if he shows up.”

   Agatha explained that she works in the antique shop part time to keep busy. She has lived her for over ten years here. Ever since she down sized her home in Newport, Rhodes Island. This Condo is easier to manage then the home she once had. She invited us to sit at the table were we could talk while she prepared lunch. She said she has ample food for the three of us and rarely entertains anymore. I felt special and welcome in her home. Her niece is coming for the summer to stay with her. She said it will be nice to have the company. 

   My husband kept the conversation flowing with where he works and what he does and how we like to come to the coast on weekends for the ocean. Agatha said “ She’s always lived near the ocean and it has a calming effect on people.” She talked about her late husband and how he died of a heart attack some years back. It was sudden but painless and she thinks that’s the way to go. It does not prolong things unnecessarily.

   We ate quiche and fruit and cheese. We washed it down with some white wine and everything was presented delicately. I could not help but wonder how old Agatha was: but I thought it would be rude to ask. My best guess was a young 75. I did ask about the bathroom we passed on the way in. She said that it was not tidy and she didn’t want me to get a bad impression. After all, first impressions are so important. She said “Grace you have a very nice aura about you.” I said “thank you.”

   After lunch we had coffee and talked for a little while longer. I told her I’m an aspiring writer. She told me I’m fortunate to have picked a profession: I have a passion for. At that moment I did feel fortunate. Why had Agatha invited me into her home? It reminded me of all the good people who are hospitable to strangers as a way of life. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Agatha does this sort of thing as a habit. There was just something about us. My husband thought it was a little strange but he said Agatha was very nice and probable lonely.

   I think back on Agatha plenty of times in the course of a year. She left such a good impression on me. Though I never saw her again. Of course, I was not in the area that often. Sometimes I think I made the whole thing up, but then I have my husband as a witness. It just goes to show you that not just the poor you can help. You can help the lonely, the displaced, and the lost as well. 

   When I think back on the life of Mother Theresa. I think that’s basically what she did invited strangers in to her home to heal, to eat, to rest, to pray. What you have are your instincts and God’s compassion to change the world one person at a time. Hopefully, this will lead you to be at least hospitable to one another.