Hubcaps on Branches and Lent

Last updated on: March 11, 2014 at 6:14 pm by Denise Bossert

Hubcaps on Branches and Lent 2014-03-11T18:14:00-05:00 Denise Bossert

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Once in a while, I see a shoe in the road. It’s odd — a shoe in a road, in a place it obviously doesn’t belong, separated from its mate.

It’s almost as odd as seeing a pair of shoes tied together and flung across an overhead wire. You can’t help wondering how it got there. Plain old weird. (Actually, I just learned that the shoes are a message indicating something rather sinister – like a place where one can buy illicit drugs. So this, too, is a message left for passersby, a message meant for evil.)

Every once in a while, as I am driving home, I notice a hubcap that’s hanging on a branch. As a driver who has lost a hubcap or two through the years, I know why this oddball thing is hanging on a tree branch. Someone found it and knew the owner might be looking for it. The “finder” hung the hubcap on a prominent branch in hopes that the owner would pass that way again and see it. The good-deed-doer will never get a thank you for his act of kindness. It is enough to know that the owner might be thankful for the anonymous help.

My friend, during Lent, you are hanging hubcaps on trees for passersby. You won’t be thanked. Nobody will ever come up to you and say, “Hey, when I saw the ashes on your forehead, I felt a tug to come back Home.”

Or, “When I took an order and the entire family chose seafood, I realized that they were Catholic, and I remembered that it was Friday. That’s when I went to Confession. It was the first time in fifteen years.”

Or, “I couldn’t quite figure out what was going on with her, but she just stopped joining in the office gossip. At first I thought she was sick, but she was in too good of a mood to be sick. Then I wondered. Could it be what she’s given up for Lent?”

You are hanging hubcaps on trees. They are out there, the ones who have lost something. And when they notice the oddball hubcap hanging from a tree limb, they might just say, “Hey, that’s mine. I need that back.”

No acclaim.

No recognition.

No thanks.

Go ahead and hang the hubcaps, friends. And smile while you’re doing it. You are about to make another person’s day, or week, or eternity.

Previous Post

March 8, 2014

March 2014 Catholic By Grace Column

Next Post

March 12, 2014 Jealous of Catholics

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Diocesan Column Holy Land Travel Writing Let's Go On A Pilgrimage Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Paul say was the purpose of the Law?

Select your answer to see how you score.

To make us righteous To keep order To lead us to Christ To separate Israel from the nations