JUST A RIDE TO TOWN
One summer afternoon, there was a
knock at our door. Cecil, our
middle-aged neighbour, was standing on the porch. We were accustomed to surprise visits, as the
native people were not formal in their ways.
“Come on in, Cecil. Would you like some coffee?”
“Uh, no thanks.”
“Nice weather, eh?”
“Sure is.”
We knew there was a purpose to the
visit, but what was it?
“Garden sure looks good,” Cecil was
saying. “Good job, there.”
“T’anks, ja, we be working hard,”
Rien responded.
Not to be impatient, but would he
ever get to the point?
“Say, I was wondering, would you
happen to be going to town today? And could I get a ride with you’s?”
So that was it! We should have known,
as it happened quite often with different people. They needed a ride to town, but not wanting
to be rude they would visit for a while before asking.
A simple ride to town –such an easy
thing for us to give, but such a huge need for one with no vehicle. Sometimes, our role here seemed to be to help
in a thousand small ways: to drive
someone home from the hospital in Owen Sound, to take a single mother out for
coffee, to drive a friend around to pay her bills. We seemed to be regarded as providers,
counsellors, helpers, and rich by many reserve residents. At times, people took advantage, as people
anywhere sometimes do, and I, for one, had to learn how to say the word “No.”
(I’m thinking of a perfectly fit young man who called me for a ride from one
place to another on the reserve at 4:30 every day, right when I was making
dinner for my family.) And there were
many people who had jobs and money and were not in the least dependent on
anyone. For the others – a ride to town
once in a while was not too much to ask.
But when you give to the needy, do
not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving
may be in secret. Then your Father, Who
sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:3,4(NIV)
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