Friday, September 9, 2011

So Great!

I encounter this gentleman every now and then as I travel the hallways of the hospital going to the lab, to pharmacy or to wherever I need to go to pick up things for our unit.  He works in the housekeeping department and he is always friendly and cheerful.

One evening I needed to go to the Central Sterile Department.  It is just about as far away from our unit --both vertically and horizontally -- as is possible.  To get there, I must go down a very long hallway. I had just turned down this hallway and noticed him far at the other end.  As usual, he looked happy.  As my steps continued  I could tell he was humming a tune to himself and I vaguely recognized it as a hymn.

It is my habit, when greeting someone in the hospital, and being asked the ubiquitous question, "How are you?" to answer with the response, "I am great!"  But as this gentleman and myself grew closer, and his song became more evident, his mood infected my own to the degree that when he asked me the question I did not give my usual answer.

Instead I said, "I am so great!"  I know grammatically it was a strange sentence, but it perfectly captured how I felt. I had even drawn out the "so" as if it had four or five "o"s in it for emphasis.

He laughed at my response and said, "So great!  That's wonderful!"  Assuming my shift was almost over, when it was actually just beginning, he said, "I hope that bubbles over into your dreams."

"Bubbles over into your dreams."  It was my turn to laugh at his response.  We had by now passed each other and continued down the opposite ends of the hallway chuckling at each other as we went.  We had shared very little with each other, but that very little did so very much to our attitudes.  I know I felt even better than when I started, and I could tell he did too.

What we say, how we say it, even the way we carry ourselves without saying anything can change another person's day.  A look, a smile, a kind word, opening a door, helping to carry a load. . .it takes so little to do so much.  Often that is then multiplied and passed on to someone else.

We have the Lord of Love and the Lord of Life living in our hearts.  Let us let Him "bubble over" from us to others to day.  He multiplied loaves and fishes to fed the bellies of the multitude, let us allow Him to multiply the smiles and songs in us to fed the souls of individuals we meet each day in our lives.

"A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance:"
Proverbs 15:13

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