Kill 'Em with Kindness (Part 1)

I've been thinking about posting this for a couple of weeks now but wasn't sure I wanted to be that transparent in such a public forum. :D

Yesterday, our pastor preached an excellent sermon about Mary anointing Jesus' feet. Many things stuck with me, but the one thing relating to this post is the verse that tells how Judas Iscariot angrily asked why the ointment hadn't been sold and the money given to the poor.

Pastor pointed out that he is so thankful that the Bible is the best commentary on itself. The very next verse states that Judas said this not because he cared anything about the poor but because he was a thief and was the one who was responsible for the group's funds. His words sounded good, even pious, but the motive behind those words was anything but.

Rewind to nearly two years ago. A teenager approached me at church to ask me to buy some cards to help him with his school fundraiser. Being the pushover kind person that I am, I agreed to buy a boxed set of 50 cards for $20 - a pretty good deal, actually. I told him I would pay for the cards after they came in.

The cards arrived, and the kid and I kept missing each other at church. I finally got the money to him, but he didn't have my cards. I hate pestering people, so I patiently waited for several weeks before mentioning my lack of cards to him. He had forgotten that he had not given them to me and promised to do so.

Several more weeks went by. I reminded him again, but this time, he told me that he couldn't find the cards anywhere. Out of patience, I asked his mom about the cards only to be told that all unclaimed merchandise had already been returned to the school. Great! I'm out $20.

The mother did offer to refund my money, but I told her to just keep it for the school. However, I made a mental note not to purchase anything else from them.

A few months later, the mom asked to see my favorite solo songbook I had sung from for my special that morning. I let her borrow it. Several months went by; the book was not returned. Surely, this adult would do better than her teen.

I asked her about the book. She promised to return it. A couple of months went by - no book. I patiently waited for a couple more months. (By this time, it had been nearly a year since the incident with the son.) Then I found out that she and her family were moving to another state in just a few weeks...

Come back tomorrow for the rest of the story.

illustration courtesy of fotosearch.com