there are still angels out there

week one down here at wheaton, and have been struggling to get my schedule together pending some new information i received from the registrar's office. it was good new,s it just caused a minor tizzy among the people i like to take classes from. but that's not what i want to write about here.

i tell this story not because i think it is that amazing of a story or because i think i can turn it into one, but because i do not wish to forget the little reminders to pay it forward.

i went into chicago today to attend a doctor's appointment on behalf of my sick computer and have dinner with a friend. this translates to an hour train ride from the suburbs into downtown and a short bus ride to the popular parts of the city. now, i spent all of last summer catching trains and buses, so you'd think i'd remember the process and be fairly comfortable with it. um. not so.
by the way, it's freezing. below freezing. the kind of cold that no one in the city can deny or try to be tough against. it's cold.
i step out of the train station looking for the bus station, and end up at another train station. i'm doing my best to not look lost.
a woman calls to me from across the little outdoor foyer, "honey? where are you trying to go?" i turned as she came up to me to look at her. she wore a puffy black jacket with the hood pulled up and around her face, but i could tell she honestly wanted to help me. i told her where i needed to go and she pointed me in the right direction. as i thanked her and turned to go, she asked, "is there anything you can do for the homeless?" as i turn back, i remembered some food i took from the dining hall that morning and packed in my bag in case i ran across someone who needed it. i told her about what i had and she was welcome to whatever. she just looked at me and started backing up. "no, sugar, i don't need food. it's cold. i'm looking for a place to stay." i, lacking better words, apologized i couldn't help her, thanked her again and turned to go.
this leads me to a whole new train of thought about the homeless and me, but that's not what i'm trying to point out at the moment.
i find my station and get onto a bus. i forget payment for a chicago bus means $2 in exact change. the smallest note i have is a $20. the bus driver advises me to ask people if they have change. to the five people sitting ion the front half of the bus, i screw up my courage and ask. one man, the person i would have thought least likely to answer me, was able to give me a ten and two fives. i asked again if anyone had five ones. no luck.
at this moment it hits me that i miss sydney buses. i missed my bus pass that took me anywhere, i missed the bus drivers that always gave change, i missed getting on a clean sydney bus with inherently friendly people on a warm sunny afternoon. the whole zeitgeist felt different here, and i missed sydney.
a woman who had her eyes shut the whole time called to me with a bus pass in her hand. "it doesn't have enough on it for a full ride, but it has some." i smiled and thanked her. it was $1.50 short when i ran it by the driver and turned back to the bus. if i didn't have a $1, no way i had quarters. before i really knew what was happening, the man who broke my twenty and the woman who gave me the bus card were next to me fishing in their pockets for quarters. both of them said, "here," and by sheer force of obedience my hand reached forward to accept the six quarters that fell into it. i looked up at the both of them in amazement. "thank you so much," i said. the woman responded, "hey, there are still angels out there." all i could do was repeat. "there are still angels out there." i wondered at the world as i walked back to the driver to drop my $1.50 in quarters.

i know this world is fallen, that people will be in conflict with each other and everything around until God finishes His redeeming work in us and, ultimately, comes back to claim the whole thing. i see it on the news and in every film and song and story with an antagonist. however, i am constantly amazed by how brightly light shines. i don't know if these people who helped me were Christian, and frankly, it doesn't matter to me at this moment. they are doers of good, helping those in need around them not because there was anything in it for them, but because they could. i want to be like that. i hope it reflects the Good. not because i have to or because there's anything in it for me, but because it's the right thing to do. this is my little reminder to always be paying it forward.