This past week at work, I strode into work at my usual time, expecting - as usual - to go through my usual round of greetings as well, my e-mail check, and the early morning beginnings of whatever today's dumpster fire was destined to be. Imagine my surprise when one of my colleagues came up and said "Hey, would like a doughnut?" It was exactly the sort of thing I probably should not be eating at this point, chocolate covered with white frosting lacing on top.
I ate it anyway. And it was delicious.
But the impact of the doughnut lasted long after I had carefully extracted the last bit from the napkin it came in. I was touched. Someone had thought enough of me to bring me something.
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I find it striking in the Gospels that a great many of the miracles that Jesus did and a great many of the people Jesus talked with are nameless.
The woman at the well, the woman with the flow of blood, the son of the widow in the city at Nain, the man lowered down from the upper story, many others - all of these are recipients of Christ's kindness and all of them are nameless to us now. For most of them, this (so far as we know) was the one encounter they had with Christ. Most of them never appear again in the Gospels or the New Testament that we know of, but is hard to believe that the impact that Christ had on them at the moment did not change their lives forever. We read of the believers in Jerusalem and Israel in those early days of the church; it is hard to believe that those touched by Christ and His kindness were not some of them.
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I am often tempted by the idea that offering a kindness is something of an inconvenience sometimes, or even downright difficult to those to whom I scarcely feel kindly towards. Yet I need look only at the evidence in my own life, and in the actions of Christ, to know that the impact of even a single kind action can reverberate throughout a day or indeed, throughout eternity.
After all, no kindness is ever wasted.
Very well said. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAnon - You are most welcome. The fact that such a thing has a daily impact on my own life should encourage me all the more to do it for others.
DeleteDon't think that a solitary doughnut, even laded with frosting, is all that harmful TB, takes a lot of willpower to disappoint someone showing kindness benefiting the tummy. And that doughnut gave you cause to post today.....win...win. OBTW, light layer of the white stuff EVERYWHERE this dawn, tree buds are coated, looks like small cotton balls on the deck, never saw it look like this before.
ReplyDeleteNylon12 - It is never the one doughnut, it is the almost inevitable opportunity to eat the second one that causes the issue...And yes, when we refuse a kindness of another we deny them the privilege of an act of kindness.
DeleteSnow? Still? Good heavens, it is practically the end of April.
I'm not sure if this is a technique I learned in my Dale Carnegie course I took decades ago but using kindness is definitely something I use regularly to obtain things. Whenever I have a tradesperson do work upon my house, I always offer them a cold Gatorade or soft drink when they arrive. I find it much easier to ask them to do something different/better later if necessary. For example, one a tree trimmer came to my former house to trim a tree near a city powerline in the back. I brought out some Gatorade and asked that when he trimmed, could he cut each piece to fireplace length. He said he wasn't really allowed to do that, only cut the branches efficiently in whatever length, leave them lay and move on. But when I cam out after he left, all were fireplace length so I only had to split them. Another technique was to make homemade chocolate chip cookies to take to the registrar's office in school when I couldn't get into a particular section of a class that would make for a nice schedule. The cookies would suddenly get a full section increased in number by one with my name in that spot!
ReplyDeleteEd, it is often amazing what the power of a simple action - or even a simple word - can do, even if "not officially sanctioned".
DeleteIt really depends on the recipient. I try to be kind, but sometimes that's interpreted as weakness.
ReplyDeleteJohn, it can be. That said, I believe that is ultimately on them, not me. I am having to learn that I can be both kind and firm. I am not as good at firm as I should be.
DeleteKindness can be amazingly transformative. And it's often an immediate affect. There is an art to its delivery, as pointed out above, but it's always worth it because it takes so little effort to be kind.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, it really is. I have seen it work as recently as two weeks ago in a way I did not expect. And yes - to your point, it cost me a very small effort, an sincere apology.
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