The Umbrella

By Tomoko Matsuoka, Japan

The air was heavy with unshed rain as I made my way to the hub of our town. I silently berated myself for not bringing an umbrella as I glanced at the clouds that hung low and filled the gray sky. It seemed that in a minute or two the heavens would burst open, but two minutes came and went. I went here and there, taking care of my business, then turned homeward.

It was at the railroad crossing that my luck ran out. Big fat drops fell from the sky as I stood waiting for the oncoming train to pass so I could cross. Three trains, the signals announced. I would be standing in the rain for five minutes. Those around me had taken refuge under their umbrellas.

Typical, I thought. I decided that this wouldn’t faze me, as it was not the first time that this had happened. Not this exact circumstance, perhaps, but others where I found myself unprepared or, like now, caught out in the rain. Each time I would put on a mask of extreme indifference to people’s stares and to the rain. ?Yes, I like getting wet!? I wanted to say. Perhaps next time I would wear a sign.

A middle-aged lady walked up and stood next to me. There was nothing striking about her, and I would not have given her a second thought if it hadn’t been for what happened next. As she stood next to me, she quietly held her umbrella over the both of us, shielding me from the rain. I was shocked out of my pretended indifference to the rain and thanked her profusely. She smiled but didn’t say a word. I wondered what else to say. But as we stood there waiting for the train, I realized I didn’t have to say anything. She was one of those people who do not give a second thought to the acts of kindness they perform. We crossed the tracks together, then went our separate ways.

As time passed, little opportunities came my way where I realized I had a choice to either do something to help others or to let the chance slip by-opportunities to show God’s love to others, as that lady had to me that day. Offering my seat on a train. Helping a mother maneuver her baby stroller up a flight of stairs. Little things. And whenever I was tempted with the thought that it really made no sense to show kindness to strangers, I found good reason in the memory of the kindly woman who shared her umbrella with me.

More importantly, I realized that each step, each deed, and each word I say may seem small, but it can open a world of kindness for people who cross my path. You think not? What difference could it make? Well, I’m sure that lady has long forgotten the kindness she showed a wet teenager years ago-lost in the many acts of kindness she has no doubt done since-but I will never forget.

* * *

Make Me a Blessing, Lord
Give the gentleness to bless
All who have need of gentleness.
When men have bitter things to meet,
And fear, and would accept defeat,
Then let me lift their eyes to see
The vision of their victory.
Help me to help; help me to give
The wisdom and the will to live!
-James Dillet Freeman

* * *

There is such a need everywhere for love, and the mystery of love is that it is best found when it is not being sought; it is best found when it is striving to give to another.
-Jesus