Following is a story I read this morning and found the lesson something to remember and put into practice.
“A man who spent much time
with Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, used to speak of his ability to compliment and
express gratitude …even for a muffin. On one occasion he sat with Reb. Shlomo
in a dingy restaurant, presided over by a sour-looking proprietress. The woman
was unusually homely and unpleasant. He was happy when she put down their
breakfast order and returned to the counter. But after taking one bite of the
muffin she had brought him, Reb Shlomo summoned her back. ‘My most beautiful
friend,’ he said to her gently, ‘are you by any chance the person who baked
this muffin?’
‘Yeah, I am, what about it?’
she retorted.
‘I just want you to know that
this is the most delicious muffin I have ever tasted in my life.’
The woman gave a hint of a smile,
thanked him, and started to walk away.
‘And I also want you to
know,’ Reb Shlomo still was not finished. ‘And mamash (truly), I have to thank
you because I was so hungry, and you did me the greatest favor in the world by
so expertly baking this muffin, which is surely a taste of the World–to-Come.’
By now the woman was smiling
broadly:
‘Well, gee, thanks a lot.
It’s very nice of you to say so. Most people never comment when the food is
good; you only hear from them when they have a complaint.’
Reb Shlomo went on to ask the
woman about the special ingredients she used in preparing the muffin, and
listed attentively. He was specific with his compliments, commenting on the
muffin’s airy texture, its buttery and fragrant quality. Carlebach’s friend recalls
that he was watching Reb Shlomo paean to a muffin with a mixture of amazement
and amusement, until he gazed at the woman. ‘I was taken aback. The homely
woman was no more. A few minutes with Shlomo had done the trick. She was
transformed. She had become beautiful.’”
I learned there is value in
acknowledging the good another has done for you and I hope someday to acquire
the ability to sing hymns to muffins and make people beautiful.
