Happiness. Joy. These two words are synonymous yet differ quite drastically. Happiness can be transitive or fleeting. Joy is continuous happiness that accumulates over time. I felt both of these today.
One of my church leaders wrote the following:
“We must be sensitive to our spiritual bits. Even with the slightest tug from the Master, we must be willing to completely alter our course. To succeed in life, we must teach our spirit and body to work together in obedience to God’s commandments. If we heed the gentle promptings of the Holy Ghost, it can unite our spirits and bodies in a purpose that will guide us back to our eternal home to live with our eternal Father in Heaven.”
—L. Tom Perry, “Obedience through Our Faithfulness”
Right now I am full of happiness. Even more so than when I watched the last goal in today’s Brazil vs. Croatia match. During that goal I was anxiously watching as Oscar (#11) moved right then left and finally toed the ball into the left bottom pocket to secure Brazil’s victory in the opening game of the 2014 World Cup. The Fan Fest set up in Downtown Sao Paulo was packed with Brazil fans and some Croatian aficionados. The entire place erupted in an uproar and we all jump up and down cheering for Brazil. That was an intense moment of happiness. But that pales in comparison to what I felt when I was walking back to my apartment in the northern sector of Sao Paulo in the neighbourhood of Santana.
I decided to go to back to the apartment I’m staying at right after the game finished. I took the metro and had time to think about one of the best experiences I’ve ever had watching the World Cup. The metro was pretty empty and nothing out of the ordinary occurred. Rather than taking a bus or taxi home I decided to make the 30 min walk. As I was walking I saw a mother and daughter going through the garbage looking for aluminum cans. In that moment my heart was pricked. The little girl reminded me of my own 4 year-old niece. I kept walking and passed a Gelato shop. My heart began to stir inside of me and I felt I needed to go back and offered them an ice cream. And yet I kept walking thinking to myself “how would I even ask? What would I say to not offend them with my offer.” I walked for a block and a half and then I turned around. I could not live with the feeling that I could make someone happy and I didn’t even try.
During my walk I kept feeling a stronger feeling that I was heading in the right direction. I finally reached the mother and child and said the following to the mom,
“Excuse me. I’m not from Sao Paulo and I don’t want to make you uncomfortable but I saw your little girl and she reminded me of my niece. Could I invite you two to share some ice cream with me?” She smiled politely and said, “Yes, you can.” Her almost toothless smile was a beautiful sight in my eyes. We walked to the Gelato shop behind us and I asked for three orders. I paid R$30 ($15 CAD) and we each chose our two flavours. We went outside the shop to eat our ice cream and to chat. She told me she was unemployed and so was her husband. She said, “my daughter and I are collecting cans so we can make some money.” I asked her how much she got for her cans. She replied, “R$2.50 ($1.25 CAD) per kilo.” She told me she had three children aged 10, 4 and 1 and 4-four-month-old baby. I told her my sister had three children and was expecting her fourth. She replied, “It’s hard no, having that many children?” I nodded in approval.
We talked about Sao Paulo, the neighbourhood and how I learned Portuguese by watching Brazilian soap operas. “Those soap operas are good, right?” I chuckled and told her some are good and some have bad stuff. “But you know,” she told me, “some of them talk about real life.” I agreed with her. Up to that moment I was so entranced in our moment that I didn’t notice two other people. One was a young man who leaned over me and gave her money; the other was a lady who gave her a plastic bag with a carton of milk and a bag of bread. I felt so full of joy that I knew I couldn’t stay there. She told me she had another child close by that she needed to check on him, and with that we parted ways, but not before she left me with the traditional, “God bless you.” I returned the blessing and headed home. I made it about 10 minutes before I had to stop and cry. I couldn’t contain the emotion I felt at seeing such a beautiful sight: complete strangers recognizing the need of a mother and offering what little they could to ease her burden. Truly, these tender moments are what make life so good.
To my religious friends I can only describe this as following a prompting. To my non-religious friends I can call it following my inner voice. I don’t often share these private experiences but today I felt I should highlight that in this world and in this huge city that is celebrating (and protesting) an international event there are good people who have not forgotten those who should not be forgotten. For my part, I’m just glad that I had the courage to turn around to see it.
While the World Cup made me happy, complete strangers filled me with joy. A joy that to this moment still makes me smile and fills my heart with kindness and pure love.
