TENDER MERCIES

It is "funny" how when you start to feel so low that "something" will happen that lifts your spirits and, like a break in the clouds, you find that peice of hope we all need to keep moving. For a number of reasons, yesterday was a real bummer of a day for me. I ended up at what has become one of my favorite "thinking places" in the city. Just me, my Diet Coke, the classifieds, my music and my thoughts. I shut my eyes and said a little prayer --- not so much for myself, but for hope. Then I looked around at the beautiful weather we seem to get so much of in San Francisco and I remembered I had not looked at my mail. Of course, I knew it would mostly be bills that I can't afford to pay --- but then there was a card. A card sent to me by a friend whom I've never even met.

The card read, "Here's a helpful technique for managing stress during difficult times..." and it was a cute little joke, but on the inside of the card was a note of encouragement and love. I doubt that he will ever understand or know how much his card meant to me --- it was like a tender mercy that gave me hope and strength. After I kind of got myself sorted, I tried callilng him --- we've been playing phone tag for well over 10 months. And, to my surprise, he answered and we talked a bit. I guess those little mercies that get us through it all. And, they come to us in the most surprising of ways.

It is important to remember because whether we realize it or not --- the things we do have an impact on the people around us --- even the people who we have never met and who are miles away. I don't think we ponder this often enough.