I was on my way to the grocery store to buy some bananas today. An Autumn chill had finally arrived in the October mornings here in the mountains of my home. Still, I wasn’t quite ready to trade in my shorts and Hawaiian shirts for jeans and a jacket just yet. I turned my car heater up and thought sadly that it was only weeks now until Winter.

When I arrived at the store I saw a fellow shorts wearer outside. It was a frustrated little boy pushing the change return over and over on the Pop Machine. He told me his Mom had given him fifty cents to buy his favorite drink, a can of Yoo Hoo, but the machine had taken his money and failed to give him his can. No matter how many times he pushed the change return too only one quarter came back out. He looked ready to kick the machine in his anger. I fished around in my pocket, found a quarter, and put it in the machine for him. This time the can fell down with a satisfying clunk. The boy looked up at me with a big smile of thanks and I winked back at him. He opened the can and started to sip his chocolate drink with delight. And I walked inside the store smiling with my body feeling warmer and my heart feeling lighter.

That little moment reminded me once again that even the tiniest act of kindness makes this world a better place. The smile I got from that little boy was worth a million quarters. It made me feel closer to love, closer to life, and closer to God. My little act of love made me feel more like who I was truly meant to be.

Mother Teresa once said: “God doesn’t ask us to do great things, only small things with great love.” Pay attention to the small things in life then. Never pass up a chance to do a kindness. Never pass up a chance to share your love. Never miss a moment to make God smile. In the end it is those little moments that will make up your life. Live them well!

Joseph J. Mazzella