Generous Eye

The Ride

On my way to church with my twin daughters our bus stopped at the mall to pick up passengers. One by one they stepped onto the doorway. The last passenger who went in stopped to tell something to the driver. Her companions, a child and a young adult, went straight to the back. She was asking the driver to let her in without a fare card (that is, bus ticket) because she lost it in the mall.

Shortly after she finished her statements, the driver immediately said, "Ma'am, if you don't have a ticket, you need to exit the bus." The lady then repeated her story. This time with a little but higher tone.

Then it became a cycle. She talks. He talks back. It was like listening to a student of a music lessons repeatedly singing the same line of a song that gets higher everytime.

I felt the driver's urge to stop the argument when he said, "If you keep raising your voice, I will keep raising my voice. You don't have a ticket, you need to exit the bus."


The Game Changer

It was then that a passenger near the driver, a young man, approached the ticket vending machine, inserted some coin, get the ticket and gave it to the lady. The driver went back to his seat and started the bus.


The Never-ending Story

He wasn't polite at all when he first ask her to exit the bus but hey, that's the rule. You want to ride a bus, you need a ticket. With the help from a stranger, she had one but the argument was not settled. She called to report the driver. He called to have a supervisor meet him at the terminal so he can report the incident.

In fact, while we were waiting for our next bus I can still see them arguing right where we got off.


The Generous Eyes

I admire the young man's attempt to be part of the solution to stop something that might go somewhere but have us all stuck to where we are. It somehow demonstrated what Proverbs 22:9 says: He who has a generous eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor. (NKJV)

I remember reading an article when I was in grade school that says, "In settling an argument, it's not always a question of who's right and who's wrong but 'Who loves more?'" In this case none of them does. Although someone from the spectators stepped up and demonstrated love. That may not be his exact intension but from where I was, that's how I saw it.


The Aftermath

Two days after this incident, I was revisited by this passage: Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels. (Hebrews 13:2 NKJV)

I remember being in so much hurry that night that I shut my eyes from being generous. What that young man did will always remain an inspiration to me - to have a generous eye.

To have a generous eye is to open one's eyes to what is going on and to do the best one can to help make the situation better.

Judgment is an option but in some situation, it doesn't help anyone move forward specially when mercy is what was really needed.

For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. (James 2:13 NKJV)