Some Mercy Stories

Just now, as I boarded the 13 bus across the street from Paisanos, I waved an elderly man ahead of me. He could board first. But before he could do that, a woman had come from his other side to vie for the entrance. He stopped, and waved the woman forward. I witnessed this double shot of mercy. One act begot another for free. Praise God!

After a heavy sigh, the bus driver just waved a car out of its parking lot and another into the parking lot. At least the waving is good, and multiplying.

There are lots of lost people in Central. God blessed me with an opportunity to bless two last night. First, as I was leaving the IFC, an elderly man with a Chinese face stopped me. He had a small suitcase beside him. He asked me where this curious building was, Yee Woh4 Daaih6 Hah6. Since I am not familiar with Building's Chinese names, I could not help him. I planned on taking him to the concierge but his calling a friend stopped that. I spoke to his friend and he gave me the English name, Jardine House. Ah! To confirm, the man and I asked a real estate hawker. He generously whipped out his smartphone and confirmed. We thanked him and set off. My smartphone with GPS led us.

In fact, the man had lived in Hong Kong, more than thirty years ago! I laughed and commented that where we were walking was no more than the sea when he last lived here. The man had been a doctor in South Africa. He was returning to Hong Kong to visit his friends.

After dropping him off at Jardine house, blessing him and receiving his thanks, I praised God for this opportunity to make this difference. After all, I do not think anyone would have gone out of their way to assist him. With me, he had a one stop shop. But that was not the biggest difference for which I gave glory to God. The greatest difference was my indifference to his dropping English language responses on me while we spoke. I forgot in which language(s) I responded but I know I handled his ambiguity without the anger that had characterized me in the past. Indeed, the proof is I could go out of my way. Angry and self-righteous, I could not go as far as I did with that man. Praise God.

Later, as I boarded the 13 bus (that evening), a young woman with a Chinese face asked the driver where the bus going. I asked where she was going. She said HKU and I told her to follow me. We talked and discovered that we both live in Graduate House and have a NYC connection. It was pleasure to lead her from the bus down the hill the our dorm. She had never taken this bus and campus route before.

A taxi driver scowled at us as we waited for him to make his turn before we crossed the street. We laughed because we know vehicles have the right of way in Hong Kong. The man was angry and bellowed, "Do you guys study at university!?" and I bade him peace as he grumbled and drove off. I explained to my acquaintance that there are many angry people in Hong Kong and what happened was not our fault but a result of his heart condition. Our conversation diverged a bit when she started talking about Hong Kong people's anger and their pathetic lives. I disagreed but used my discretion to express it. I will hold on to the good in this cap to my evening and give God the glory!