The man was very grateful. I felt pretty good myself, and I know Jason did. A couple years later, Jason made a cross-country trip by motorcycle himself. He carried very little and depended upon the kindnesses of those he met to give him work and aid. One day, after his trip was over, we sat down, and he told me stories of help he had received, about the farm woman who saw his tent pitched in her field and invited him in for supper and the campers who shared their food and fire.
Charity has a way of spreading itself around.
The other day, as I stood at the checkout counter in the supermarket, the young woman in front of me, holding a baby on her hip, with two other small children in tow, was dumping change from her purse, unable to make the total for her groceries. She needed 18 cents. She was embarrassed and trying to decide which of the items she could have the clerk return to the shelves. She had let the children buy one candy bar, and now she was handing it back. I don't have little ones to treat anymore and would really enjoy it.