Perhaps

Relaxing on a park bench, my husband and I sat in this beautiful park in downtown Boston. Across from us sat this sweet old couple. We did not have a conversation nor did I even hear their voices speak even a word. I usually do not take pictures of people but I just had to take a picture of them. It was not until much later that I noticed it. Do you see it? Do you see the other end of the empty bench? There is a sunbeam shining straight down on that bench.

While the older gentleman appears to be engrossed in his phone his wife appears to be somewhere else, lost in thought, perhaps in memories of the past. Could it be that she feels the presence of that sunbeam? Could it be that she has lost a child, a friend or a loved one? Could that sunbeam be the spirit of one who has gone before her bringing her a sensation of warmth and comfort?

Maybe it is just a sunbeam breaking through the new buds in the tree above and is only a coincidence. Maybe it is not a symbol or a sign but what if it was? What if I happened to be there when God was comforting her?

All about us people are hurting, laughing, mourning and filled with joy however, we rarely notice. Today, sit down and notice. Say a prayer for those you pass. Look into their eyes and give them comfort, a smile, a moment. Perhaps you will be as lucky as I was to see that sunbeam right beside her in that moment. Possibly, perhaps what I witnessed was more than a sunbeam it was God’s comfort. However, I never would have seen it if I had not stopped to rest and opened my eyes to my fellow man.