A Little Act of Great Kindness

Many years ago, I needed to travel to another continent. I was on a slender budget, and so, I took a relatively cheap flight, with an airlines that belonged to a rather remote country. The airlines permitted me to stop over in that country for some days and then take another flight, to head to my final destination. And that is what I did. I can’t recall exactly, but perhaps I spent around a fortnight in that country, hurriedly moving from place to place to see as much of it as I could.

The country was relatively small in size, and so it was possible to see many, if not most, of its major tourist attractions in a few days. After having spent some time in the country’s capital, I decided to head to a region that had a fair share of tourist sites but was considered somewhat unsafe.

Now, this was a time, several decades ago, when things like ATM cards and online banking were yet to be invented, or perhaps even imagined, a time when budget travelers like myself would have to carry money in cash or, for those who could arrange for it, in the form of travelers cheques. I suppose I had sufficient money with me for my expenses for a budget holiday, but perhaps it was not safe to carry all of it with me on my trip to the part of the country that I now intended to head to. What if I were robbed?   

It so happened that while I was in the country’s capital I met with a Christian nun—perhaps I was visiting a historical church and she happened to be there. I can’t remember the details exactly, this being from so many years ago, but I seemed to have intuitively felt that I could trust this woman of God. For her part, although she had never met me before, she seemed to trust me, too. I gave her the portion of my money that I did not want to carry with me in safekeeping. She willingly agreed to keep it for me till I got back after some days. When I returned, she returned it to me, fully intact.

I wonder where this noble nun is now. I wonder how her life went on to unfold. I wonder how many needy travelers like myself she proved to be a blessing for. I wonder how many more lives, like my own, she touched with her trust. I wonder how many people she inspired through little acts of great kindness of the sort that I was a beneficiary of. Wherever she may be, may God bless her abundantly!