A Good Deed

I went to the airport to pick up an old priest.  I timed my pull up to the arrivals curb so that he might be there, but he was not.  I went around four more times.  No priest.  I called the house.  No one had heard from him.  I parked and went into the terminal.  No priest.  My cell rang.  He was home.  He came out to the curb, saw no one, used a stranger's phone to call me but left no message, and then took a limo service home.

The first thought was to curse the womb that bore him.  The next thought was of how I had wasted my morning.  These are just thoughts.  They do not need any attention nor control.  Had I not still done a kindly deed?  He had gotten home safely.  Just because the results of my efforts did not work out as I expected or wanted, it was still a kindly deed.  I had spent the morning doing a kindness.  Enjoy the effort.  Plus, I had learned a lot about driving around an airport with which I am unfamiliar.

The effort to do good can come from love or kindness or compassion.  The anger at the results or outcome is simply an ego bruised.