All it took was a bag of chips

Source: Living City
Beginning my first semester in a community college, I found that everyone was extremely individualistic. Little to no communication happened between students, and what was said was not always nice. In my math class, I found that my neighbour next to me always made rude remarks under his breath about everything my friends and I did.

The first thought that came to my mind was to just ignore him, but then I remembered how Jesus said, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them” (Lk 6:32). This was my chance to put his words into practice and build bridges. I brought a bag of chips to class and informed my friends about my plan. At the beginning of class, I popped open the bag, offering some to my friends first so as not to awkwardly come off too aggressively to the person I was really trying to love, my enemy.

My friends began to giggle, because they knew what I was trying to do and politely refused. Then I offered the chips to my neighbour. Initially he said no, and I thought my plan had failed, but then he changed his mind. I thought this was great and set the bag of chips between the two of us and told him to feel free to grab as much as he wanted. He slowly grabbed more and more, and by the end of class, I told him he could go ahead and have it.

He really appreciated the gesture, and during the remainder of the semester, this simple act of love really transformed our relationship. We even began to help each other with concepts we did not completely understand, and I was astonished that all it took was a bag of chips.

Apollo Tee, Texas