Paying It Forward

The other day I drove to the Fare For All site to pick up a box of veggies.  Fare For All is a non profit that buys groceries in bulk and sells them at cost to anyone who wants them.  You don’t get a choice in what is in the box, but it’s basic supplies:  this month it was potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, apples, oranges, pears all for just $10.  They have a veggie/fruit box and a couple of other options with meat in them.  It’s the first time I have gone, but I decided it was time to check it out.  They were doing a gloved/masked drive through, and had emailed instructions, so I drove over there to see if there was a long line.  There were only a few vehicles in front of me, and as I pulled in a woman approached me to ask which of the boxes I wanted.  I replied, and continued in the line making my way to the main truck they were unloading from.  Another woman came up and asked me to pop my trunk.  I did so, and pulled forward a little more.  The first woman retuned, carrying a box.  She popped it in my trunk, and I went to hand her my bank card to pay.  “Oh, you don’t need that today,” she exclaimed with a twinkle in her eyes.  “Someone already paid for it.  Just pay it forward somewhere!” 
I pulled out of the parking lot, tears in my eyes, laughing at God’s great timing as earlier that very day I had received an email from one of the sisters at St. Ben’s Monastery saying she was praying for my financial situation, and I gave thanks!  Thanks to the person who had paid for my veggies, for the farmers that grew the crops and the pickers that sweated in the fields, for the earth that had allowed the crops to grow, for the kindness that is swirling around us during this difficult time, and so much more. 
And I began to dream of ways to pass the kindness on.  Making bread for others, creating a pollinator patch in my garden, growing vegetables and sharing them when harvest time comes, walking Gibbs on the monastery grounds when the sisters who enjoy him are likely to be walking around, posting pictures of beauty on Facebook, supporting small businesses, and, as always, prayer!  There are so many ways we can be kind to one another, that we can pay it forward!  And I think that kindness has a ripple effect, carrying outward until the very edge of the world then turning back in again.  Who doesn’t need an extra dose of kindness these days!
One thing I have a vision of is to create a nature based art exchange on the prairie trails at church where people can leave a piece of art for another to find, and find something that someone else has left, spreading beauty in the world.  Painted rocks, small canvases, wooden carvings, even masks could be hung up for others to take!  The ideas are endless and fun… and would get people out into nature with open eyes and hearts!
How will you pass on kindness today?  What visions do you have to pay kindness forward?

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