Wall Street Journal Op-Ed: A Blessing for the Sole, by Mike Kerrigan (Hunton Andrews Kurth, Charlotte, NC):
An airport shoeshine man gave me a lesson about God and his human gifts on earth.
Shortly after passing through airport security, I realized my shoes were in desperate need of a shine. I stopped at Executive Shine in Charlotte, N.C., and took a seat in the regal bank of elevated chairs. … When it was time to settle up, I asked what I owed for his services. “Whatever you think it was worth,” he said. …
A cynic, Oscar Wilde said, is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. This most uncynical man demands no price for payment, only value for consideration. I think I understand why. Transactions in the material economy may be zero-sum—a dollar in his pocket was one out of mine—but ones in the spiritual economy never are. The abundant trust he placed in me didn’t diminish his stores of unperishable virtue. …
A lot to draw from a chance encounter with an ordinary person? I think not, for two reasons, both courtesy of C.S. Lewis.
First, in “The Weight of Glory” (1941), the British writer observed: “There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.” He’s right. The artisan was no ordinary person; nobody is. “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself,” Lewis continued, “your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses.” No human life is a cost. Every human life is of an infinite value.
Second, reflecting on his faith in “Mere Christianity” (1952), Lewis wrote that he “does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” While his grace comes directly, his gifts often come indirectly and through others. If this is so, then there are no chance encounters, only chance opportunities to learn the good God is anonymously teaching. Here a shoeshine made me think less of myself and more of others—through whom, by accepting them as gifts, I learned more from their giver.
What might have been pedestrian turned profound. God never stops seeing the immanent beauty beneath our disfigured exteriors. Through his care of my banged-up footwear, a gift of a man reminded that neither should I.
Op-Eds by Mike Kerrigan:
- What Bluegrass-Loving Friars Taught Me About A Life Of Faith: Put First Things First (Sept. 15, 2024)
- No Earthly Cross Is Borne In Vain, For The Darkness Of Good Friday Is No Match For The Radiance Of Easter Sunday (Mar. 31, 2024)
- Our Dog, Who Art In Heaven (Jan. 7, 2024)
- We Can All Learn About Forgiveness From Colorado Football Player Travis Hunter (Oct. 8, 2023)
- Standing Back To See Suffering More Clearly (Apr. 30, 2023)
- The Gospel Of St. George (Costanza) (Feb. 26, 2023)
- Character Counts In The Super Bowl (And In Life) (Feb. 19, 2023)
- Presence (Not Presents): The True Gift Of Christmas (Dec. 25, 2022)
- St. Thérèse's 'Little Way' To Heaven — Small Deeds Done With Great Love (Oct. 16, 2022)
- What Football Can Teach Us About Death: Fathers Are Fullbacks (Oct. 3, 2022)
- Father's Day And The Prodigal Son (June 19, 2022)
- The Blessing Of A Mother’s Love (May 8, 2022)
- What Saint Dismas Can Teach Us About Good Friday And Easter (Apr. 17, 2022)
- Love, Duty, And A Friend’s Death (Aug. 1, 2021)
- God’s Jigsaw Puzzle Needs Every Piece (July 18, 2021)
- My Mom’s Christian Lesson: ‘Offer It Up' (May 16, 2021)
- God's Mirth Sanctifies Our Laughter (Apr. 25, 2021)
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