Besides teaching, one of my other responsibilities of working in a small, Catholic high school is to drive a school bus in the morning. It is not the same as driving a bus for a public school where you follow an actual route and make a dozen or more stops. My route is simple. I drive out to one of our feeder parish schools and pick up a half-dozen or so students and bring them to school. (It is easier for parents to drop their students off at the church then to come all the way into the city.)
Yesterday afternoon, right out of the blue, John came into my classroom and offered to drive my bus for this morning. In the past, I have asked John on a few occasions to drive my bus route when I had a meeting or something, but this time, he came to me. My first thought was “Thanks, but no, it’s my responsibility.” My second thought was “Yes, he’s asking to do a favor. Who am I to deny him to carry out a heart-felt gesture?”
What a perfect example of the Lenten spirit! Now it is up to me to pay it forward to someone else.