GENEROSITY TO THE STRANGER. An Episode from Back Woods Montana, U.S.A.

Dave Reeck is about seven days out of Banff, headed south through Montana on the way to Mexico. By Bicycle! Click Here to see his progress and Click Here to follow him on Facebook.

Each and every evening he has to find a place to overnight. Last night (Friday, June 17) he was in the Montana woods and far from a hotel. He pulled into a campground. There, an amazing thing happened. 

In Dave's own words:

"So swan lake is on my cue sheet, but not right on the route so I overshot the turn by 3 miles or so. The mosquitos were so thick I had to put on feet just to read map. After some backtracking I pulled in at the Swan Guard cabin on the off chance it was empty. It was not, but these lovely people fed me, gave me a bed to sleep on, and kept me entertained! Thank Joe, Erin, Mindy and Kim!"

The generosity of this Montana family is an antidote to the grief we feel at the Orlando tragedy. It's so far, morally, from the War on Terror: bombing, shootings, and conflict around the world.

Human life goes on because people are generally good, even to the stranger. Matthew 25:35: "For I was hungry and you gave me food. . .I was a stranger, and you took me in." (RSV, copyright 1948, N.C.C.) 

This morning, Saturday, bicycler Dave is on his way again, fed, watered and rested. Thanks be for the Montana family who sheltered a tired stranger. We do well to remember the generosity of  human spirit, and to practice it ourselves.

Thank you Joe, Erin, Mindy and Kim. You were absolutely generous to my son.