trust

Last night, a man came to my door, sheepishly asking for help. 'Pat' said his truck had run out of gas right here in front of my house. I talked to him for a few minutes, decided to trust him, and gave him the keys to my car. (He had a gas can in the back of his truck.) Turns out, he needed more than keys: He had to get all the way home to Pottstown, and wanted to fill his tank. He had no money with him. I gave him $20. He said he was a gardener, and would gratefully work on my yard in return.

We weren't finished. He came back an hour later, saying he'd dropped the $20 at the gas station, someone had picked it up and hadn't believed it was his –"he stole my money" was the way he put it. I gave him another $20.

This morning, there are sounds of clippers, and looking out my window, I see uprooted weeds on the walk alongside the badly-invaded ivy. I haven't seen Pat yet. I think I have a new gardener. I'm a little apprehensive that I might have more than this.

Beginning

Then indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting over lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute;
What you can do, or dream you can do, begin it;
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
– John Anster, paraphrasing Goethe's Faust *

"Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth - that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves, too."
- Goethe