“Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy.”                    Thomas Merton

One afternoon I decided to go into town to get my car washed. I drove up to the attendant, told him the type of service I wanted, gave him my keys, and headed inside to pay. The guy inside was cheery and polite. He asked me if I was going to wait there for the car or if I wanted him to call me when it was done. I told him I was going to head across the parking lot to the coffee shop, so it would be terrific if he could give me a call. He immediately started teasing me about going to the coffee shop to wait and was very dramatic about how much he would LOVE to have a cup of coffee.

I hadn’t offered to bring him back a cup, but he sure wasn’t shy about asking me if I would. “OK, I said, what would you like?” I was expecting black with one sugar or something like that. Nope. He launched into placing his order like a seasoned Barista who’d had way too many shots of espresso. He wanted a large coffee, hot, with three shots of espresso, chocolate, caramel, whip cream and a couple of other things I can’t remember. It was one of those nightmare orders that people joke about all the time. I actually had to write it down because there was no way I would get it right. I remember thinking, “My gosh, he’s got expensive taste. That drink must cost a fortune.”

When he came up for air, after placing possibly the most complicated coffee order I’d ever heard, he fell silent. I waited for an awkward moment or two expecting him to give me a couple of bucks for his coffee. He did not. That’s when I realized he was not only asking me to “bring him back a cup of coffee.”  He also expected me to pay for it.

I walked out the door toward the coffee shop, wondering what had just happened. I don’t usually get conned that easily. Had I given this man the wrong impression? I was sure I had not. This guy knew how to work it, and he worked it well. Go ahead, call me a sucker. I surely was.

I was debating. Should I go ahead and buy this guy his foo-foo drink, or should I just let it go? I will admit to being a little irritated by the situation. I do not like to be taken advantage of or to be underestimated. It wasn’t that I couldn’t afford to buy the guy his drink. It was the fact that he had worked me, and I knew it. Something inside me wanted to tell him  I knew exactly what he was doing.

As I contemplated the situation, I had a “What would Jesus do” moment. I could easily go back and tell the guy I didn’t have enough cash to buy his drink. That would be the end of the story. Or, I could ignore his intent and focuses on mine. What mattered to me was doing something kind for someone else, not whether or not they were deserving.

I decided to go ahead and buy him the coffee of his choice regardless of the circumstances.  As I stepped over the curb to the coffee shop parking lot, there on the ground on the other side of the curb were six one-dollar bills. There wasn’t a car anywhere near. I started to laugh. Guess how much his drink cost? It was six dollars and seventeen cents. That just doesn’t happen. I love it when God shows up like that, so unexpectedly. I jokingly prayed, “So what about the seventeen cents?”

When I handed the man his coffee, you should have seen the smile on his face. He was so excited. He politely thanked me, and I smiled sweetly and replied, “You’re very welcome, but I didn’t pay for it.” I’m sure he wondered what that meant, but that’s all I needed to say.

As I got in my car, there on the ground right next to my door were two dimes. God has such a great sense of humor. He even gave me a three-cent tip.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” John 13:34

Wishing you joy and peace,

Lorrie