I once heard a story of a man who stopped at a flower shop to order flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away. As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.

 

He asked the child what was wrong, and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother, but I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars." The man smiled and replied, "Come on in with me, and I'll buy you a rose." He then bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers.

 

As they were leaving he casually asked if her family lived nearby. She replied, "Yes," but that she was taking them to her mother a couple of blocks away. She asked if he would like to walk with her and led him to a nearby cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

 

The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother's house.

 

We have our habits, our routines, and ways of thinking that tend to dictate our actions. Oftentimes it seems as if we to run on auto pilot doing what we believe to be right, yet acting on our terms at our own convenience. Some would never think of sending flowers to their mother, or worse yet may be estranged from her. To the contrary this gentleman's heart was in the right place as he was thinking enough of his mother to send her flowers.

Yet his experience with the little girl opened his eyes to the precious time we have for each other. This was a divine connection through which God opened his heart to a deeper understanding of his relationship with his mother through the child's own relationship with her deceased mother. For it is through relationships, so-called coincidental connections such as this, that we are inspired to grow and look beyond ourselves.

We learn from each other. We teach each other. We need each other. As we open ourselves up to interactions and influences (both positive and negative), we become inspired to alter and refine our habits, routines and ways of thinking. Thus comes the process through which God molds and guides us toward living the life for which we were intended. If we are open to learning from each other, we find ourselves compelled to reach out to others sharing the very wisdom we have gained. It is then that we have become the teacher.

Each new day brings a choice. We can choose to expand our world by reaching out to others; that is, opening ourselves up to divine connections. On the other hand, we can choose to remain closed within the confines of our own world deprived of opportunities to learn, to teach and to connect. It seems like an obvious choice. Yet it is difficult to change our habits, routines and ways of thinking. It takes a conscious effort, but we cannot do it on our own. I pray the following prayer every morning to make that conscious effort and because I know I cannot do it on my own: "Lord, bring me to those who need me today and to those I need, so that I may help build your Kingdom."

 

The gentleman in the story above could have ignored the sorrowful young girl, and his mother would have been pleased to receive a beautiful bouquet of flowers. However, he had learned compassion and understood that we need each other. Thus as he shared the lesson of compassion and kindness, he was not expecting to receive a lesson in return. Yet just as his heart was moved by the young girl's loss of her mother, he was reminded of how precious each moment is and knew both he and his mother needed that precious time together.