08/28/2026
Pastor's Note, August 27, 2026:
"I came across this video this week as I was scrolling through TikTok, and I really liked it. I thought it was moving, and I thought I wanted to share it with you all. You will see that it is is not specifically Christian, but I think you will find that there are some places of overlap there for us, and so watch and enjoy.
"I was in a little cafe sitting at the counter, and two college girls were waiting for a booth when a father and daughter came in. The little girl was maybe about four, dressed head to toe like a Disney princess, complete with the tiara. And while they were waiting, the college girls knelt down and asked, "Are you Sleeping Beauty? And the little girl very shyly nodded, and they said, "May we have your autograph? And they pulled out a notebook, and she gave them both a flourish with the pen.
And when a booth finally did open up, the girls insisted that the father and daughter take it, and then the only open seats were at the counter next to me, and so the gals took those, and I remarked to them, "What a sweet thing that was to do-the autograph and letting the father and daughter have the booth." And one of the gals said, in an Italian accent, "My grandfather would have wanted me to do that." And I said, "Yeah, what's the story there?"
And she said that her grandfather had been a little boy in Italy during World War II. And after the war, one of the American GIs that had been stationed near their village was sort of famous for all the little courtesies that he would perform for the villagers, little favors and little gifts and little fixes to things, and and he just left a smile wherever he went, and they nicknamed him Rhino, which I guess was short for rhinoceros, because not only was he stocky, but he had a very big nose.
And anyway, she said that after the war in Italy, a lot of scores got settled between civilians, sometimes political, sometimes personal, and her grandfather's family had been on the receiving end of some armed men, who'd come about some old vendetta, and that the only thing standing between the family and these armed men was the American GI.
Now, normally the villagers might have minded their own business, but the young Rhino had become so popular with the town, that they formed a wall around him as he protected the family, and I guess this had the effect of making it look like the family was under the protection of both the U.S. Army and the entire village.
And the young woman that told me this story said that her grandfather believed that what had saved the family was what he called "leco de pico le gentilese", the echo of small kindnesses, and that when she was in America, her grandfather said she should never leave a room without leaving behind a smile. And while we were talking, she had been diligently folding this little piece of paper to leave behind one more."
