麻豆约拍

Good morning.聽 At my local supermarket I recently encountered a man poring over a pack of fruit. I stopped to offer help, 鈥淎re these apples?鈥� he said, I said they were pears; he didn鈥檛 seem to hear. I tried speaking louder. It didn鈥檛 seem to help.聽 I showed him the label, pointing and gesturing, but I couldn鈥檛 make myself understood. In the end I鈥檓 ashamed to say I gave up, hoping someone else might help. A few minutes later, in the queue to pay, the same man was ahead of me, still clutching the pears. As he moved, I saw on the back of his jacket, in huge letters, words I鈥檇 previously failed to notice: 鈥淒EAF BLIND鈥�.聽
The young man at the till was brilliant. Where I鈥檇 felt clumsy, he was confident and skilful, gently touching the man鈥檚 shoulder and moving nearer. He held the pears up to the light, and helped the man feel the coins of his change.
When it was my turn I said to the cashier, 鈥淵ou dealt with that customer with such dignity.鈥� He told me, he has a cousin with similar needs who鈥檚 taught him communication skills. And he said, 鈥渁nyway, it鈥檚 not my dignity that鈥檚 at risk鈥�. The cashier鈥檚 thoughtfulness and care made me think about what it means to truly attend to others and to really see another person鈥檚 needs.
I鈥檇 assumed that the man with the fruit had needed my help, but instead he鈥檇 shown me my own need to be more attentive to those around me, and to look and listen with greater care.
God of all, open our eyes and ears to see the world and those around us more clearly. Bless us with humility that we might notice our own short-comings and always be expectant and ready to learn from others. Amen.聽