Hi everyone,
Today, I decided to stop at the hobby store for some markers to touch up a Krishna murti I received. The store was gone, so I went in to a Sprint store to ask about replacing my phone, which the employees would happily do, as long as I were to “pay it forward,” as they say. I thanked them and left.
I found my gaze locked on a small grocery store as I walked directly toward it. I had visited once before and knew they sell murtis and deserts there. I greeted a woman and a man as I entered. Perusing the wares, I was asked by the woman if I needed help. I said I was just looking around. I brought kulfi to the counter and asked for one milk cake. The woman asked me how I was doing. “I’m good,” I said. And then I hesitated before asking how she was doing. “Why bother?!” is my typical thought process.
“I’m sad today,” she told me. I began listening. She related that a person dear to her had died.
More listening—did I hear anything? “I’m sorry,” I said. Something came before me.
“I recently heard a poem at a family friend’s funeral. The priest said: ‘Life is a highway, the milestones are years, and at the end a toll, you pay your way with tears.’” A moment. “There are tears of sadness, and there are tears of joy.”
And then she shared her tears with the Lord. Afraid, I would not surrender mine. Why do I speak?
"I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree... But only God can make a tree." ~Joyce Kilmer
