The Human heART

A few years ago I went to a train terminal in Chicago to go hear Korey Wise speak at a venue further south. I bounded up the steps to the second tier. As I rounded the corner a young man sitting on the railing asked whether I could spare some change for him to get a bite to eat. I reached in my pocket and handed him the few bills I had. He thanked me as I walked to the entrance. I swiped my Ventra card and nothing happened. I swiped it again and more nothing. I was confused and a bit agitated. I tried again and looked around to see the young man staring at me. I stared at the card as though my eyes would activate it. Finally, I went around the corner to the attendant to ask for assistance. She informed me that my card was disabled and that I’d have to return to where I got it to have the problem fixed. Now I was really frustrated as I was on a timeline. As I reached the steps to go back down to street level, the young man approached me with dollars in his outstretched hand. I looked at him, apparently with a question mark on my face.

“Take this back so you can get you can get on the train. I saw you trying to get on and you didn’t have enough money. I don’t want you to miss your ride because of me. You can have this back.”

I took a breath and swallowed, so moved by this brother’s actions. “Nah bruh, that’s yours. There’s something going on with my card. I gotta go get that straight. You keep that toward your food. Thank’s though.”

“You sure?” He questioned.

“Yup, I’m good.” I responded as I bounded back down the steps to go deal with my card issue. The entire process took me about 30 minutes or so to get the situation straightened out with my pass. I also grabbed some cash in the process and headed back to the station. The young brother was still there, on the rail.

“You straight?”, he called out as I walked toward him.

“I’m straight.” I replied as I slapped some money in his hand with a smile. “Now you can get some food for real.” He smiled, nodding his head yes. I walked away toward the gate to his rhythm of thank yous.

I didn’t get to hear Korey Wise speak that day. I was too late. However, I was right on time for where I needed to be for one of the most moving depth of the human heart experiences of my life. This young brother, who was obviously down on his luck, had actually offered me money back so I wouldn’t miss the train. Perhaps he felt for me what I felt for him when I first shared. He was willing to give up the money for my well being. I can’t actually call what I did a random act of kindness. It’s a matter of intent. I plan to share because I know how karmic energy works. Plus its heart food. There was an energy exchange in those actions between us that day that went far beyond those dollars. The cosmic calibration shook a bit on that one. And I can guarantee we were both the better from it. When we slow down enough to open our hearts in sincerity and truly connect in that real space of human compassion, we drink from the divine fountain overflowing with the unadulterated milk of human kindness. The most exquisitely valuable masterpiece ever is the human work of heART.