Food for Thought: Kindness Matters

Through research conducted by Coca-Cola it was discovered that 83% of young Americans (age 17 to 24) were inspired to do a random act of kindness for someone else after having received one themselves.  Kindness is contagious! USA Today, 7/24/18, p.1D

I was on my way to a meeting in a city a few hours from home and stopped at a restaurant near the meeting site to get a bite to eat before I went to my meeting.  It was a little later than the usual lunchtime, and I was hungry after driving for so long.  Whereas I usually would have settled for a simple salad, I actually ordered both soup and salad that day. 

To my surprise, when the waiter brought my bill, he said that it had already been paid.  I looked around, but there was no one left in the booths.  Apparently, whoever had paid my bill had done so on their way out of the restaurant.  They obviously did not want me to know that they were paying for my lunch.  It was a truly random act of kindness in the spirit of the once popular “Pay it forward” movement.

God has commanded us to show kindness to everyone, regardless of their circumstances, as he said in Colossians 3:12 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Yet those sentiments do not seem to come naturally to some people.  Even when they see someone obviously in need such as a homeless person. 

A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead.  She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama.  Then, she asked the class, ''If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?'' A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, ''I think I'd throw up.” 

Most of us are somewhat repulsed by the site of the homeless, especially if they look or smell bad.  While it may not always be safe or well advised to approach people who appear down and out, there are organizations through which we can safely help.  There are other people to whom we can offer help directly.  No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.