Mt. 7:12.
Hi there!
How was your pasahero ticket
going? Hope you’re able to practice and commit yourself to it. This time, I will
share with you the next pasahero act: being “A Generous Passanger”. Let me
begin by telling you a story. (thanks to ahajokes.com)
Saving
the Dead Rabbit
A man was driving along the
highway, and saw a rabbit hopping across the middle of the road. He swerved to
avoid hitting the rabbit, but unfortunately the rabbit jumped in front of the
car and was hit. The driver, being a sensitive man as well as an animal lover,
pulled over to the side of the road and got out to see what had become of the
rabbit. Much to his dismay, the rabbit was dead. The driver felt so awful he
began to cry.
A woman driving down the highway saw the man crying on the side of the road and pulled over. She stepped out of her car and asked the man what was wrong.
"I feel terrible," he explained. "I accidently hit this rabbit and killed it."
The woman told the man not to worry. She knew what to do. She went to her car trunk and pulled out a spray can. She walked over to the limp, dead rabbit, and sprayed the contents of the can onto the rabbit. Miraculously, the rabbit came to life, jumped up, waved its paw at the two humans and hopped down the road. 50 feet away the rabbit stopped, turned around, waved at the two again, hopped down the road another 50 feet, turned, waved, and hopped another 50 feet. The man was astonished. He couldn't figure out what substance could be in the woman's spray can! He ran over to the woman and demanded, "What was in your spray can? What did you spray onto that rabbit?" The woman turned the can around so that the man could read the label. It said:
" ‘Hare Spray' Restores Life to Dead Hare. Adds Permanent Wave."
A woman driving down the highway saw the man crying on the side of the road and pulled over. She stepped out of her car and asked the man what was wrong.
"I feel terrible," he explained. "I accidently hit this rabbit and killed it."
The woman told the man not to worry. She knew what to do. She went to her car trunk and pulled out a spray can. She walked over to the limp, dead rabbit, and sprayed the contents of the can onto the rabbit. Miraculously, the rabbit came to life, jumped up, waved its paw at the two humans and hopped down the road. 50 feet away the rabbit stopped, turned around, waved at the two again, hopped down the road another 50 feet, turned, waved, and hopped another 50 feet. The man was astonished. He couldn't figure out what substance could be in the woman's spray can! He ran over to the woman and demanded, "What was in your spray can? What did you spray onto that rabbit?" The woman turned the can around so that the man could read the label. It said:
" ‘Hare Spray' Restores Life to Dead Hare. Adds Permanent Wave."
The
Generosity of Five Pesos
Thanks to the woman, without
her compassion and her out-of -this-world “HARE” spray, the rabbit will never
be alive again and will not free the man from feeling of awfulness. Indeed,
with the woman’s generosity, he was able to save a life and save the driver’s
(almost horrible) day.
This story may not be real,
but I’m sure like the man, you already had an experience becoming a recipient of an act of generosity
from strangers while you were travelling. Let me share mine. (Thanks God, the
stranger that I’m going to mention here has no ‘Hare’ spray)
Commuting to work, I usually
prepare smaller bills or coins to avoid inconveniences (to me and for the driver). But one time, while I
was already riding a jeep going to GMA (General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite) I
was not able to notice that what I have were only a hundred peso bill and ten peso
coins. So though I'm hesitant, I gave the one hundred bill paying for my 15 pesos
fare. The driver replied, “Sandali lang ho sa sukli sir.” (I’ll give you your
change later sir”). “Sabi ko na nga ba” (I told you) I said to myself. So there
I was, hoping that some passengers will still come for the driver to get enough
for my change.
At the middle of the ride,
I noticed again the driver figuring out how to find my change. And then the driver said “Wala po ba
kayong barya dyan sir?” (Don’t you have smaller bills sir?). “Kulang po, sampu
lang boss.” (not enough, 10 pesos only) I responded. “Sandali lang po ha”, sabi
ulit ng driver. (Wait sir, the driver said).
When we are about few meters
to the terminal, a co-passenger in front of me said, “magkano ba kulang sir, dagdagan
ko na lang,” (How much is lacking, I’ll add.”) “Wag na po sir!” (No sir!) I
replied. But to my surprise, he already has the five pesos in his hands and
he’s already giving it to me that I can no longer resist. “Thank you po sir!” I
said. The man just nodded and smile. The
driver then returned my hundred peso bill while I gave my 10 pesos plus the
five pesos from the stranger. After a while, the man already get-off and again
I thanked him.
The
PasaheroTraining Ground
Have you experienced such
generosity from a stranger? It may not be the same like what I had but it maybe
when someone volunteers to give you his seat, or when someone helped you to
find your direction, or carry some of your belongings, or when someone simply gives
you a smile. And how did you feel after that? I’m sure it was great. So why not also do the same
for others when we are traveling?
Listen to what Jesus said:
Listen to what Jesus said:
"In
everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you.”
Mt. 7:12.
A beautiful proverb also
said:
“Your
kindness will reward you, but your cruelty will destroy you.” Proverb 11:17
Meaning, when you sow seeds
of kindness, you’ll reap fruits of kindness. But if you always sow seeds of
indifference, indifference will also hunt you.
These are actually the
wisdom behind the second pasahero act: being a generous passenger which is
actually a way to plant seeds of generosity in our heart and in the heart of
others by simple yet inspiring acts of kindness. And I believe that commuting
and using public transportation are good oppurtunities to do this.
Here’s what I believe: “Kapag
natutong magpahalaga ang isang tao sa kanyang kapwa pasahero, matututo rin
s’yang magmahal kahit kanino”. (If someone learns how to show concern
to his co-passanger, he will also learn how to show love to “whomever.”) Indeed,
commuting is a good training ground for us “pasahero” to live a generous
lifestyle.
What made me tell this? Look at this; usually many of our co-passengers are strangers to us. We do not know them, and they do not know us too. So, if we really know how to show concern and think of what is good to them, then how much more we can show concern and think of the good of people who are known to us.
Not only that, usually most of our acts of kindness whether we’re riding a tricycle, jeep, bus, taxi, pedicab, train, MRT, LRT, ship, or an airplane and even just walking on the streets are “thankless” - they are usually unnoticed. So every time we do them accidentally or deliberately (like being a pasahero), we’re training ourselves to give without expecting reward like the Good Samaritan.
Being a Generous Passenger, Being a Good
Samaritan
Looking at the parable, Jesus is telling us that if we want to
receive eternal life, we need to give or to become generous to strangers. It's good to remind ourselves of the story. (Lk. 10: 30-37)
“A
man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of
robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him
half dead. A priest happened to be going down
the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too,
a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.
But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him,
he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and
wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care
of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the
innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you
for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do
you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law
replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”
Before, I never realized
this. So all the while I thought of my
travel as a disadvantage because believe it or not, I spend 3 hours commuting every
day with six transfer rides. Compute it for five working days, and it will give you 15
hours and in a month- yes, 60 long hours which I usually waste by just napping
or day dreaming. (not mentioning still my daily travel expenses here)
But that was before. Now, I
consider my travel as a good opportunity for me to practice generosity
with others. It is no longer more of a problem (except when I’m getting short
of my travel allowance. Yes, unfortunately it happens.) but a form of ministry- an opportunity to serve others.
So I’m now enjoying my travel more. And I know that the longer travel I need to took, the more opportunities to practice generosity. Indeed, I was never been excited to travel today compared as before.
This is also my wish for you, that you experience always a safe and inspiring travel by being a generous passenger.
Much has already been said, so let me pause for a while. Next time we will be giving answers to these questions:
How can you make your travel more inspiring?
What are the things we can do to help us become more of a generous passenger?
How are we going to practice the second pasahero act?
These and more, I'll share with you next time.
Much has already been said, so let me pause for a while. Next time we will be giving answers to these questions:
How can you make your travel more inspiring?
What are the things we can do to help us become more of a generous passenger?
How are we going to practice the second pasahero act?
These and more, I'll share with you next time.
Again, thank you very much for
reading this post and wishing you a blessed and generous trip.
May you always be inspired!
Thanks for sharing this very inspiring experience. I had a similar one a few years ago. I didn't realize that always carrying a plastic bag inside my bag whenever I take a ride could exhibit much generosity, until one day I had an unforgettable experience. On my way to a school located beside a hospital, a sick child with her parents took a seat beside me in a jeepney. It was an emergency I guessed as I sensed that they were on the way to the hospital. The little girl was in pain and holding her stomach, when I felt that she was going to throw-up. The first thing that came to my mind is to pull out the plastic bag inside my bag and hand over to the father. No, I was not thinking of doing a charitable thing that time. Guess what? I just didn't want to to be stained by the fluid the little girl was about to throw-out on the floor of the jeepney. I was not even thinking of sparing the driver of cleaning his jeepney of foul liquid afterwards nor of saving my fellow passengers of getting wet of that liquid. I was thinking only of myself. But, when the mother unceasingly thanked me until they reached the hospital; it was only then that I realized how that simple plastic bag became an instrument of generosity. From then on, I never forget placing clean plastic bags inside my handbag. Yes, plastic bags, because from then on I carry not just one. I carry at least two. One for myself when I feel sick while traveling (by the way that's the only purpose of the plastic bag I always carry) and a spare one to help somebody with similar case to that little girl. And you know what? I did not get much from the lecture in my first class in school that day, because it took me hours to stop thinking how that lifeless plastic bag gave me such regard from copassengers.
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