Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, texing, zoom, emails and the list goes on and on. Recently as I sat in a physician’s office awaiting my turn while the doctor was over an hour and a half behind on seeing his patients, a gentleman in the waiting room began a conversation.

He is a retired college professor and loved to converse , as do I. I feel I never meet strangers, but merely potential new friends. Some people converse, some don’t, but this gentleman had many tales to share. One of our commonalities in our conversation was the slower pace of life when we were younger-the neighbors that said hello and wanted to know you -the neighbors we could borrow sugar or flour from. Sometimes we returned the item borrowed or quite often, waited until they needed their own missed ingredient.

We both agreed we are not fans of some of the new technology, but we have adapted. We still prefer sitting and chatting rather than texting or sending emails.  I would love to run over to a neighbor’s, knock on their door to borrow an ingredient for something I could share with another.

We all love our modern conveniences of high tech equipment, appliances that can do everything except put our clothes away or set the food on our tables. Yet what about those days when the family gathered in the kitchen following a meal to “do the dishes?” Some would bring dirty dishes to the sink while others washed-one or two would grab a towel to “dry.” Still others might be there to put the dishes away.

Oh that’s right!  This was only  in Father Knows Best or Leave it To Beaver or some of the other family television shows where life was perfect.  There might be two people cleaning the kitchen, if that many. Even though there was often bickering in my family of origin over every household chore including all those kitchen tasks, I still miss some of the simplicity of that time.

As I read one of my devotions today, I was reminded again of the uncomplicatedness of life in previous years. It was set in the 1960’s, so it was akin to the discussion in the Dr’s office.  This author was one of over a thousand passengers whose airline flights had been rerouted, delayed and/or canceled on December 24^th. There were crying children and yelling parents. There was stress and worry because there were no cell phones to inform anyone of the situation. What could they do?

Then came along a gentleman to soothe the worry and bring a ray of sunshine to the beleaguered passengers. With his homemade coffee cart, he was offering a smile, kind words of encouragement that everything would be alright and a cup of coffee. He even carried blankets for those that might have need of one.

As the author boarded the bus due to his flight cancelation, he queried the jovial man about his acts of kindness. Mr. “Jovial” took two weeks of vacation every year to be there at the airport during the holidays knowing the stress the passengers endured.  He called helping people his “gifts to himself.”  Have you gifted yourself recently, by helping another?

Luke 6:38 NIV, Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap…”