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Someone will need my kindness today.
It will very probably be someone that I have no idea needs it.
It will likely be in a way that I cannot know would be the most helpful for them at that moment.
It could be something as simple as a smile or an opened door. It could be something more: a conversation I did not intend to have but did, a deed I did not think I would do but it turned out to be only a little effort, a laugh that I did not intend to create, an accidentally encouraging word I gave without realizing it.
But someone will need my kindness today, someone who will not tell me that they do.
Someone will need it every day.
I think that is a good way to think of ourselves, a good thing to always keep in mind.
ReplyDeleteLeigh, it certainly changes one's perspective of the day.
DeleteThere is a story by Leo Tolstoy entitled "Where Love is, There God is also". It tells the story of a old cobbler who meets Christ in the people he serves during a day. He does not realize they were Christ until God shows him. I need to be more like that, seeing Christ in all my interactions.
Aye TB, a good thing to follow, thinking and doing for someone else first. No matter how hard I try I can't forget The Golden Rule.
ReplyDeleteNylon12, you emphasized a critical point there: Hard. It is hard. So hard that the effort is often abandoned (including, alas, by myself).
DeleteI believe in the power of kindness…
ReplyDelete“If we’re open to it, God can use even the smallest thing to change our lives… to change us. It might be a laughing child, car brakes that need fixing, a sale on a pot roast, a cloudless sky, a a trip to the woods to cut down a Christmas tree, a school teacher, a Dunhill Billard pipe or even a pair of shoes.
Some people will never believe. They may feel too insignificant to forever change a life.
But I believe. And I always will.”
-Donna VanLiere
The smallest kindness can be mighty powerful.
Blessings to you!
B - Thank you for sharing that quote. I think one of the key thoughts (or me) is the idea of "they may feel too insignificant to change a life". That is what I think kindness can feel like (or is portrayed as: some small act that may make a passing difference but not a big one (those are reserved for the "really big" acts). But even a small kindness can make a world of difference - because those being kind cannot truly see where others are and thus cannot see how much that act might mean.
DeleteBetter to err on the caution and just do whatever kindness we can - after all, we can always hope and believe the impact will be huge.
As a Chaplain, when we are on scene a grieving family or loved one, although there is nothing we can do to bring back their loved one who has died, our intent is "what is the most kind thing I can do for them?"
ReplyDeleteAnon - "What is the most kind thing I can do for them?" is likely a question we should always be asking.
DeleteMany times you'll never know what a difference you made . . .
ReplyDeleteJohn, I wonder if that is meant as a blessing and a future looking item in Heaven, to find out all the impact we had that we never knew about.
DeleteI just returned from visiting a member of our church and one of my fraternal organizations who is in the rehab wing of a nursing home. He really appreciated the kindness of my visit.
ReplyDeleteEd, that is exactly the thing. And often -at least for me - it is something that would be considered more of an inconvenience than anything else. But it means so much to others.
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