A friend of Bethany, someone who attended the church as a teen, is currently off enjoying the trip of his dreams. A vacation, he said, that had long been on his personal bucket list.
Jim is an engineer and—like most of his ilk—rhapsodizes over things that are (1) sort of broken and might be fix-able; (2) horribly broken but good to have on hand for spare parts; (3) in need of solutions and problem-solving (such as how to make new stuff out of broken stuff); and (4) things that are, well, just perfectly constructed and need nothing but to be admired. On this vacation, he was on a mission to achieve #4: To see, and travel through, and marvel at one of the greatest engineering feats on Earth—the Panama Canal. He was counting on being wowed and, as the cruise ship voyaged onward, he certainly was.
What he didn’t anticipate was that he would, in turn, wow someone else. Stepping off the ship later that day, he saw a man looking at him. Goggling at him. The man, a taxi driver, at once stopped trying to sell Jim on a touristy ride around the small village. He instead brought out his cell phone and asked for a selfie. “Los Papá Noel!” he exclaimed. Pointing to Jim’s shorts, sandals, straw hat and violently colorful Hawaiian shirt, the man said, “On vacation!” The taxi driver gestured again—this time waving at Jim’s very long white beard. He wanted a picture of—you guessed it—"Santa Claus" on vacation. He probably would have packed Jim into the car and driven off with him to the local school to show his children … but it was determined that a photo with “Santa Clós” would suffice. Jim graciously complied and made a new friend for life. Imagine the excitement of the kids when they saw that photo. They’ll probably never forget the day their Papi met and actually spoke with Santa. Jim figures he is by now Scotch-taped 'til infinity to the family’s kitchen cabinet, or stapled to the “Show and Tell” bulletin board in a cheerful Panamanian classroom. What a large, long-lasting legacy to come out of such a modest meeting.
It’s usually the big ticket items—like sky diving or seeing the Lincoln Memorial up close—that gain traction, as they say in PR talk. Yet it’s the little unexpected moments that can stay with us forever. Sweet moments that help define us and remind us of what’s really important in our lives. Maybe we should put ourselves on high alert so we recognize these times when they come along. Maybe in addition to making bucket lists, we can be filling our buckets. With the small, humble, occurrences that nourish and replenish us and give us reason to be glad.
—Cathy Betts Sapunor
