The Kindness of a Neighbor, Part 2

"A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds.  A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love."

~ Saint Basil

The woman I know who was asked to be a lector at her church became more nervous as the day of her reading for the first time approached.  But her neighbor had promised to sit next to her and get her through.  And there he was in the front row.  The neighbor went over the instructions with her, showed her at what distance to place the microphone, and said he would tap her on the shoulder every time that she had to get up to read.  The woman went up and did the first reading.  As she finished and began to walk back to her seat, she saw her neighbor punch his fist in the air -- the way someone would to cheer a great accomplishment.  The woman imagined that is how someone might react when another person wins a race (something she knows nothing about but decided must feel pretty good).  The neighbor got her through the three times she had to make her way to the altar.  After Mass, she told him how much she appreciated his kindness.  "It was nothing," he said and the woman believed that he had no clue how much he had helped her.  Sitting on his other side during Mass was a gentleman who would be doing the readings the following week and whom he was coaching, too.