The Kindness That Gives Us Courage.
I was standing in a queue for coffee in Rome when a stranger gave me something I am still carrying through life. When I reached the counter, the barista said, “Your coffee? Already paid.” Someone ahead of me had bought my drink without knowing anything about me. I was surprised by how deeply it moved me: for a moment, I mattered to someone who had no obligation to think of me.
Maybe we find it easier to affirm another person’s worth than to accept our own. That small kindness gave me permission to feel important, without having to earn the attention. As I looked around, any unfamiliar face might have belonged to my benefactor, and I felt a little closer to them all.
Later, on the way to the airport, I passed the Appian Way and thought of Paul approaching Rome as a prisoner.
In A.D. 58, Paul had travelled that very road—not as a visitor or pilgrim, but as a prisoner, escorted by armed guards on his way to stand trial in Rome. I imagined him walking along those stones, weary, uncertain, and facing an unknown future.
Yet something extraordinary happened on that journey. Word of Paul’s arrival reached the Christian community in Rome, and they chose not to remain at a distance. Luke, Paul’s companion, records the moment:
“The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they travelled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us.”
These were not nearby landmarks. The Forum of Appius lay sixty-four kilometres from Rome—a grimy stopping place the poet Horace once described as crawling with frogs, gnats, and dishonest innkeepers. The Three Taverns, only slightly closer, stood fifty-eight kilometres from the city. And yet the believers walked. Step after step, mile after mile, they came—not to change Paul’s circumstances, but to offer him their presence.
They came because they loved him. They came because he needed them.
When Paul saw them, Scripture tells us he “thanked God and took courage.” The Greek word used for “courage,” tharséō, carries a gentle and intimate meaning: to be strengthened from within, to be
We draw so much strength from Paul’s words that it is easy to forget he needed encouragement too. Those believers gave their time and made the journey. They could not remove the uncertainty ahead of him, but their presence helped him face it. Scripture does not say whether he wept; I imagined he might have, as I did while pondering their welcome.
My morning’s experience was small beside Paul’s ordeal, yet it helped me understand how deeply an act of care can reach us. I left Rome thanking God for people whose actions make his love easier to recognise, and asking myself how much inconvenience I would accept to encourage someone else.
Somewhere along my way, someone will need a visit, an unhurried conversation, or a little unexpected generosity. I hope I act on the thought while the opportunity is there. I know now how much a cup of coffee can mean.