Loving is contagious

Source: Living City

By: Donata Ling, Toronto

She bought the jewelry box

During a vacation with some friends, I decided to be there just to love them, even in the smallest ways. For example, one girl needed to go back to her room to get something, so I offered to accompany her even though we were far away at the beach. Another time, one of the girls hadn’t brought any money, so I offered to lend her some of mine even though I didn’t bring much. On another occasion, one of the girls got into an accident and injured her knee, so for a couple days I was always offering my assistance to help her get what she needed. Another night, my close friend was very upset, and I woke up to her crying. I tried to comfort her and offered her my advice.

Loving in the smallest ways with great love is what I really tried to do. And on two separate occasions, one friend asked me what it was that makes me different. I answered that I am no different from her, I am human, but I just want to treat others as I would want to be treated.

This friend is very strong-minded about certain aspects of the Catholic faith, so many times when we speak about religion, there are conflicts. However I always know that the best way to share my faith is to practice the simple message of love.

Later, two of these friends got into a disagreement. One blamed the other, when in reality both were at fault. Later on, they were able to settle the argument. The one who had been blamed (and had asked why I was different) knew that the other had wanted to buy a jewelry box for a souvenir, but she couldn’t get out to buy it because of her injury. She didn’t think the other would get the jewelry box for her if she were in the same situation, but in the end she did buy it for her. I was really proud of her for being able to treat another the way she would want to be treated, and I told her so. She said, “Yeah, I would have wanted someone to think of me and buy me the jewelry box if I was in that situation.” So I realized my loving in small ways had become contagious!