I drove Luke to his dentist appointment on Thursday afternoon
it was a beautiful cloudy warm winter’s day,
as usual he was very pleasant company and talkative.
After the visit he wanted to go to the “the Dollar Store”,
I let him go in alone so that he could just take his time,
unlike me he does love to look around before he buys anything.
So I parked and waited outside near the entrance.
I noticed as I waited the different people going by
each intent on their errand
moving with purpose,
some slow others moving quite rapidly.
Then I noticed a man near one of the benches,
he was sitting there smoking,
drinking a soda that he got from the store,
he was an older man
who seemed to have the aura of child,
the way he walked,
his picking things up off the sidewalk
even the way he smoked
made him stand out a bit for me.
He was well dressed,
yet I was worried that he perhaps was homeless,
probably a silly thought
for homeless people don’t hang out near dollar stores
at least I have not seen any in this area.
He seemed aimless,
yet I realized that I could be reading into the situation,
so I just watched and observed;
being quiet people ignored him.
Another man came out and sat down next to him,
about the same age,
he moved closer to him and they talked,
and to my relief I found that he was on a tour
with other’s like himself.
I felt relief over this for I hate to think of him alone,
so Luke came out
and I drove away happy.
I really do over think things.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
