Learn to Give

Learn to give
Vitachan - Shizuoka

Yesterday, suddenly I got a little surprise. My Step parents brought one pack of Rice (10kg) and gave it to me by the time I would buy rice because I run out of supply. He..he.., good fortune, I thought.

Feeling so happy, I send short message to my sister in Indonesia and tell her this story. “Why so good?? I get it when I need it.” I wrote to my sister. Then my sister tell me a story, this morning my mother call a “tukang becak”(a man who give a ride using three wheel vehicle) at front or our house and gave him a plate full of rice.

My sister felt so confuse, on what occasion my mom suddenly gave food to that man. My mother said, “So my sons who stay far away don’t less of food.” My sister said, maybe my mother refer to me who live far abroad. At that very moment, in the afternoon I get 10kg of rice. Wow, the payback so not fair, a plate of rice with a sack of rice. He..he.. not bad :-).

This happening makes me remember to an incident 20 years ago. Once upon a time on the beginning of hot season when I still on 3rd or 4th grade in elementary school in Bandung, there was a digging project along way at front of my parent house for telephone cable installation. Sum of all diggers were more or less 20 people. That works takes more or less 10 days. This works take my intentions especially all those big cables which will install underground.

First day of digging, the sun shine so intense. All the tired workers stop for a while from their jobs while wipe their sweat. They look so thirsty because none of their water supply still left. My mother saw this and without much talk brought a big teapot and offer cold tea to them. On that very moment, they take and drink my mom tea with happy feelings. Because there were so many of them, my mom fills that teapot until three times.

On the next day, my mom don’t stop provide teapot in front of the house for the diggers. Sometimes my mom can fill that teapot until 5 times a day with tea. If there were snacks like boiled bananas or other cakes, my mom also serve them. I was asking once, “Why only mom gave drinks for them? None of our neighbor did the same.” My mom only gave short answer, “Pity”, she said. Until that digging works was done, one of the diggers said, “Thanks madam, start from today you don’t have to provide more water, we move to other place,” he said while do farewell with my mom.

Day goes by until middle of hot season. Some people said that hot season on that year was long and more hot than years before. Not like water in our neighbor artesian well which dryer, our well precisely has a lot of water. This is a miracle. Even our neighbor next door use bigger jet pump, while we just using small Sanyo pump. Logically, land water in our house would suck up by our neighbor. But the reality was my mom sharing our water to neighbor next door using water tube across fence wall.

All neighbor in our block bought water for shower and washing everyday. Only our family didn’t lack of water in that long and hot season. When I ask to mom, “Why water in our artesian well didn’t dry?” My mom shaking her head while said slowly, “Is it possible if this is payback from God because of give a drink for those thirsty diggers?” No one knows.

Same like a teacher, more teaching then cleverer he is. So, give practicing which my mom do also against mathematics theory. One subtract by one equal with zero. But my mom do miracle, one subtract by one could be two, could be three, even ten. Wow………