The man behind the counter

The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)

The heart cannot be denied. Not today. Not here. Not his. Nor mine.

A pair of sparkling silver rings in each ear, he turns left and right, back and again, dozens of times, as the line at Jersy Mike’s weaves its way through the lunch rush.

Short, solidly built, Latino, small tattoos on each arm, one bearing a set of initials, he reaches again and again into the cold case for ham, roast beef, salami, prosciutto, provolone, white cheddar, each time shaving thin slices and piling them on loaves of white or wheat or Italian, split with a long silver knife far sharper than anything in our kitchen.

Never a hesitation, no movement wasted, a flowing current of life from one order to the next, a constant stream of affability flows from his smile to each person in line, questions, comments, jokes, laughter as each gives their order.

Tears well in my eyes as I watch, enthralled, waiting my turn, loving him, wondering who he is and how his heart became this bountiful. Strangely thankful to be standing in line with a couple of dozen others, my impatience evaporated in the spectacle of grace and the camaraderie of strangers.

For a few minutes, the reigning social divides ceased to exist. There were no conservatives or liberals in the line, no progressives or reactionaries, no venomous vitriol over the assassination of Charlie Kirk, only human souls received with joy and showered with welcome as the line snaked by, the world redeemed by the man behind the counter.

You cannot fake this. The moment flowed from the abundance of a bountiful heart that knows joy and loves human faces.

The bounty of his heart stirred an answering love in my own, revealing again the old, much forgotten truth that caring for the health of our hearts is the most important thing we can do for the redemption of our time and place.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk has exacerbated bitter social divisions and the rage simmering just below the surface in millions of hearts. A flood of hatred and mutual recrimination inundated social media, sweeping untold numbers of human hearts into the bitter tide of hatred and mistrust.

Only those who care for their hearts find escape and equanimity, returning again and again to the well of love and mercy, gentleness and care. An old friend wrote that the present troubles moved him to turn on Springsteen then listen to Brahms’ German Requiem, letting the music wash over him.

I see him there and understand. Lost in lyric and harmony, each song, each verse, each line a sacrament watering the tender growth of faith, hope and love within, washing away the soul-killing poison of fear, hate and division that overwhelm us when we are too much with the world.

Our first priority, especially these days, is to care for our hearts for our own spiritual health, to flee the fray and fly to places of refreshment, to the wells of grace that heal our souls and gentle our hearts.

I have no idea where that is for the man behind the counter. All I know is that I want a bountiful heart like his, free and full, flowing with the All-Embracing Love who graces my heart at lunch counters.