Sharing- a small story

Today, I want to share a little story that happened a couple of days ago. I was taking a walk in my neighborhood, enjoying the warmth and sunshine. There are a couple of plum trees that grow by the streetside, und underneath one of those trees, I saw a man who seemed to be a homeless. He was standing and looking up to see if he could find any plums to pick and eat. As I was passing by, I asked him, if he had found any so far, and he replied that he had spotted some plums a couple of moments before but now could not see them anymore. The leaves of the tree have the same reddish color than the plums, so they are hard to find, and also the birds usually take most of the fruits so to find some is not too easy. I stopped and looked up into the tree, until I found a branch with a couple of fruits on it, and said to the man: "Here are some plums, they look nice and ripe! I cannot get them for you as I am not tall enough to reach them, but you might be tall enough". The man smiled and started picking the fruits, and I turned around to continue my walk, happy, that he had gotten something nice to eat for himself. Just as I said my good-bye to the man and walked on, he suddenly called out to me from behind, offering me half of the fruits, saying: "Would you like to try? You should try, they are good!". First, I really did not want to take any, as I felt I did not need any fruits, I had a fridge full of food at home, a warm bed, a place to call "home", whereas for him, I did not know how much he had even gotten to eat that day. I felt happy that I could be of help in finding some nice fruits to eat for this man, and I felt he should have all of them. But then, I saw his happiness and sincerity in offering me half of the fruit, and I felt, that it was not my place to refuse his kind offer. So I thanked him and took the fruit, and in my heart, I felt they were a gift coming directly from God. The happiness and sincerity this man had in offering me his fruits, made it an offering from the Divine- and I took them as such, tasting the sweetness of Sharing and the sweetness of the fruit at the same time.

St Francis Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. 
Where there is hatred, let me sow love, 
Where there is injury, pardon 
Where there is doubt, faith, 
Where there is despair, hope, 
Where there is darkness, light, 
Where there is sadness, joy. 
O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much 
seek to be consoled as to console, 
not so much to be understood as to understand, 
not so much to be loved, as to love; 
for it is in giving that we receive, 
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, 
it is in dying that we awake to eternal life.