I have not written on this post for years.  I have been retired from the military now for six years.  The time goes quickly.

The other day I was with Father Ortiz, a legend in the Special Forces community.  I hadn't seem him since Panama in 1988.  He was just as spry and engaging as when I knew him in Panama.  We visited the Mission Training Center in Provo Utah.  It was fun to see Father Ortiz interact with the missionaries.  While we were watching a class of missionaries go through their daily tasks, Father Ortiz asked the missionaries "why they serve?"  He added, please don't tell me it is because of Jesus Christ.  I already know that.  He wanted to know 'why" they served.  After he heard two or three missionaries explained their reasons he commented that what they told him was right.  He blessed them, and chatted with all ten missionaries.  When he left the classroom all of the missionaries rang out in loud happy voices, "Goodbye, Father Ortiz."   You could see that in their short 15 minute interaction, they had come to have agreat  fondness for the old priest.

I wonder what our short interactions are like with people.  How do they feel when they leave us.  They might never see us again.  Do they feel uplifted or down?  Are we just another immemorable face in a sea of faces, or is our interaction worth noting.  Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives if we but treat people with kindness, charity, and a good dose of humor.

Just a thought