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The Beauties, the Virtues, the Graces...

Last night, I found myself sitting in an emergency room with my love and his relative. We discovered that he had been taken to the hospital earlier in the day and immediately rushed over to check on him. Soon I was settled in among the friends and family--soaking in the Spanish and quietly honored by the way they attempted English with me.

It wasn't long before some friends showed up. One guy walked in with a grocery bag filled with water, food, a blanket, and some other items to keep the patient occupied--and the biggest smile I have ever seen. This guy was so proud of himself. He dropped off the bag and pulled from another some food for himself. He commenced eating and watching the television.

Later, we returned to the room and this guy was curled up in a chair, wrapped in his jacket--sleeping. I know from the pictures that he was there for the release from the hospital and is currently at the guy's house checking on him.

What I find so interesting about this situation is that the guy has the worst Spanish I have ever heard. I leaned over to my love and whispered, "I don't understand anything he says." He smiled at me and replied, "No one does. He's crazy." I've watched the amusement in their eyes as they watch his antics.

And based on my observations of him, I agree with that statement. Yet, it hasn't escaped me the amount of kindness and concern he showed for his friend in a time of need. It takes a lot for someone to stay in a hospital overnight. He was the only one who thought--of his own volition--to bring needed comforts for the patient.

John Steinbeck wrote the book, Cannery Row, to explore his idea that even the least among us are people of great value and beauty. He describes a ragtag group of bums as "the Beauties, the Virtues, the Graces..." This idea rolled around in my head and heart last night, eventually resting in the place that reminds me God is at work all around us, and often in ways and people we would likely neglect to notice.

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