Wednesday Wonder

Kindness.

My day began as any other. The first thing I do after making my first coffee of the day is write in my gratitude journal. Today, it was gratitude for my grandson turning three today. Can’t believe he has grown up so fast.

One of the things I am grateful for about him is his kindness. My grandson has empathy and kindness that he regularly shows. It really is amazing how young children have kindness seemingly in their DNA, until sometime later when it seems to have become a bit less, or a bit less shown at times.

If you were in attendance on Sunday you would have seen one of our youngest members showing kindness in an unexpected and delightful way. During story time, practically before the question of how we can show kindness to others was even finished, he was offering to share the snack he had just received with someone who did not have as exciting, or large, a snack as he had. Kindness in action.

When do we lose that urgency in our showing of kindness? How often do we hesitate sharing an act of kindness? Maybe we wait to see if maybe someone else will do it or because we are not sure we want to put in the effort. I know that is me at times.

When my son was in school there was a sort of push around kindness for a while. He came home one day to show me his little certificate celebrating a random act of kindness he had done that day. Funniest part of it was, he couldn’t name the act. He wasn’t sure what he had done but his teacher had noticed and celebrated it. He didn’t remember doing anything special.

Random acts of kindness. When is the last time you remember doing one? We participate in so many things each day, are any of them tied specifically to kindness? Probably some are. Kind is, after all, something Jesus showed us we should be. We are all trying to be like Jesus. Aren’t we?

Sometimes kindness is something we don’t even think about. Sometimes it can be very small, but to the receiver of such kindness it may feel bigger. This morning on my way to work I had to stop and pick something up at the store. I was running late, feeling a bit harried and just trying to get things done and finally arrive at the church. As I am leaving the store, arms full of what I had stopped to get, a gentleman on his way in waited for me to get to the door so he could hold it open for me. To him, likely not something that would register at the end of the day as having been a kindness he offered, but to me, it just lifted me up out of the overwhelm I was carrying. A truly little thing. It was done with a smile and in kindness to a stranger. To me, it made the difference to a day that was not starting the way I had hoped.

Maybe it is time for us to make a point of acknowledging our little acts of kindness, be they random or planned. Taking the time to note that you have done something may elevate your day as much as your act elevated someone else’s.

The man who held the door for me may not even remember his little kindness at the end of the day, but I will. As we strive to live with care and compassion, let’s remind ourselves when we do the little things. Little things count, sometimes in ways we never imagined.