Angel or Neighbor? Either way, love.

I just read on Facebook a snippet of a story that I have to share. This friend is a single mom who is also a minister; her child is elementary school aged. Apparently the two of them went out to eat dinner tonight, and when they had finished, they learned that someone else, some anonymous person, some angel, had already paid their tab (including the tip).

She says in addition to making her day/week/month, that this made a huge impression on her son, with whom she then embarked on a discussion about doing good deeds and especially doing the in secret, expecting no recognition, accolades, reward. She said that she knows this is going to be an experience her son carries with him for a long, long time. She expressed her gratitude for this anonymous example of Christian love (love being an action, not a feeling) to all of us because she could not express it to the giver face to face.

We are admonished in the Letter to the Hebrews to "not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares." And surely when we do that, we experience blessing. And we know that it is more blessed to give than to receive. Children are reminded to learn that one every year at Christmas. But oh what a lesson for a young child to learn through experiencing such hospitality himself or herself, by being on the receiving end of someone's generosity unexpectedly and for no discernible reason.

Sometimes angels entertain us unawares.