This summer Madison and I have been in Florida, staying with my family. It has been so nice to spend time with them; visit Michael's parents and sister; and catch up with old friends. Free childcare is pretty great too! Madison and I have been so blessed by kindness from our family, people we think of as family and even people we have never even met. It is amazing and we are so appreciative! It has been a great way to reinforce this teaching for her that this is how we treat others. This has also been an area that I want to improve on too and so my thought each day is "How can I become a kinder person?"
Summer tends to be a season during which everything slows down and it made me realize this is central to becoming a kinder person. "Love suffers long and is kind." 1 Corinthians 13:4. To be kind, first you start seeing the needs of people around you. To see people's needs, you have to slow down. Madison is learning the story of the Good Samaritan to illustrate kindness. If you'll remember, a man was mugged and left for dead. Two religious persons, a priest and a Levite passed him but did not stop. A Samaritan passed by and despite their ethnic differences, stopped and took care of the man. Luke 10:33 says, "But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion.
The second thing is sympathizing with people's pain. Another version of Luke 10:33(AMP) says, "when he saw him, he was moved with pity and sympathy [for him]. The best way for me to do this is close my mouth, open my ears, and listen. Sometimes hard for me to remember because I really enjoy talking, just as my Dad. He says my mom and I can "yap, yap, yap" all day on the phone, every day of the week!
Third, I am going to seize the moment! Carpe Diem is one of my favorite Latin phrases (little nuggets of knowledge when you take 4 years of high school Latin and 2 years of college Latin along with: agricola, agricolae, etc) even before Dead Poets Society made that and Walt Whitman mainstream (O! Captain, my Captain!). "Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him." Luke 10:34 The Samaritan walked approximately 20 miles to that inn, leading his donkey with the injured man. You really begin to notice a lot when you are the one walking 20 miles and your perception changes from just whizzing by on your donkey. I endeavor to slow down and walk those 20 miles with others, with my mouth shut, ... um... mostly! I will try to the view "interruptions" to my life as divine opportunities instead.
Finally I must spend whatever it takes and that includes something extremely valuable, my time. "The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, 'Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I'll pay you the next time I am here.'" Luke 10:35 It takes risk to be kind and it can come with rejection. Kindness costs, for you must make an investment in someone else. I am ready to make that investment and enjoy the results that slowing down and creating a new community bring! May this kind of "summer" last throughout my life!
Before I embark on this new awareness, I am reminded of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 about love. Specifically if I do not live a life of love,
1. Nothing I say will matter. "If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1
2. Nothing I know will matter. "If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possessed all knowledge...but didn't love others, I would be nothing." 1Corinthians 13:2
3. Nothing I believe will matter. "If I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:2
4. Nothing I give will matter. "If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would have gained nothing." 1Corinthians 13:3
5. Nothing I accomplish will matter. "So no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love." 1 Corinthians. 13:3
So I remember that kindness cannot exist without love. This reminds me of how I always feel when I volunteer at a bereavement camp as a camp counselor. I always arrive at the beginning of the weekend fairly bursting with what I want to give but at the end am humbled by how much I receive. I am sure this will be the same with my kindness quest! Happy Summer!
