Thank you for coming to this page. Our intention here is to share the little things are not actually little. It is so seductively easy in this world to wallow in our problems and challenges and heartaches. But there is loveliness everywhere. This page is simply about sharing this truth in countless little ways. We will update, change and add to this page often. Share your stories and images random goodness that has come into your life recently.
The Reverend Jeff Lewis
She came to me holding a guitar….
She came holding a guitar in her hands. My guess is that she was ten or eleven years old. I’d never met her before and I did not know her name. My hands were splattered with paint from the roller I was holding, with which I’d been painting the ceiling. My neck and arms were sore from the job. Twelve others from St. Mary’s were all together, painting different parts the chapel on the campus of Our Little Roses home for girls in Honduras. There was a lot of work to do and I was not at all sure at that moment that we would have the time to get it all done.
When this girl came into the chapel, I was not exactly sure what she wanted, but I took a chance in guessing it had something to do with the guitar. Her English was limited. My Spanish was probably even more so. Setting aside my strategic plan of how much ceiling I was going to get covered by a certain time, I set about to speak with her with our few overlapping words to see what we could figure it out together. What I figured out from her smile and nods, and what she figured out from my clunky questions, was that I could get out of a painting job – and she could get a guitar lesson. This was a symbiotic relationship!
We could be friends!
Looking back on this moment from a few weeks in the future, I cherish it as one of the most lovely and meaningful memories of our time in Honduras. At first, I thought of it as a kind of random goodness. But the more I reflect on it, I don’t think the goodness was as random as it might seem.
The word random seems to have links to mindlessness, with an absence of meaning. Randomness feels to be lacking in the virtues of intentionality, carefulness, compassion or courage. But I like its links to chance – as in taking a chance – especially taking a chance with the intention of something good.
While I may have taught her a few chords on the guitar. She was the real teacher to me that day – and today. For she showed me the beauty of taking a chance. Of asking a question, meeting someone new, doing something that seems scary, reaching out to a stranger, even asking for help – even just showing up. Her showing up that day, with courage, openness, hopefulness and trust was a gift that will last far beyond the time we shared in the unfinished chapel that day. The girl’s name is Brigit. We pray for her (and all the girls at Our Little Roses) every week. As remember her and her sisters in our hearts, may we be inspired by her example of leading us into “random” goodness.
Peace,
Jeff