“Be the living expression of God’s kindness, kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”
-Mother Teresa
You know people are tired of all the anger when you see billboards and t-shirts with the slogan, “Be Kind.” Why do we need to be told to be kind? It seems either many people have forgotten how to be kind, or they are no longer being taught to be kind. This is most likely because many are no longer studying God’s word, and don’t want to be bothered with being responsible for the happiness of others. I’m fearful that children are growing up without knowing kindness and how to act kindly towards others. Indeed, in elementary schools, kindness has become one of the life skills taught to students. Why does it have to be taught in school? Because children aren’t seeing it in their homes, and don’t know how to be kind. Sure, elementary and sometimes middle school teachers have had to remind students to be kind toward one another on an individual basis, but not on such a scale as today.
This brings me to the purpose of this blog. For several blogs coming up, I don’t know how many, I will be writing about kindness, where it comes from, different types of kindness, and how we can show kindness towards others. I am exploring this topic, hopefully in its fullness. I would appreciate your, the readers, input as well.
Kindness comes in many forms. Dictionary.com’s synonyms for kindness are: affection, altruism, benevolence, cordiality, courtesy, decency, forbearance, gentleness, good will, goodness, grace, graciousness, hospitality, humanity, patience, solicitude, sweetness, sympathy, tenderness, tolerance, understanding, amiability, beneficence, charity, clemency, consideration, delicacy, heart, helpfulness, indulgence, kindliness, magnanimity, mildness, philanthropy, serviceability, solicitousness, tact, and thoughtfulness. One synonym that jumps out at me is humanity. If humanity is a synonym for kindness, then it stands to reason, if we lose our kindness, we lose our humanity. Hmm, something to ponder.
It is also interesting that nice is not listed as a synonym for kindness. Maybe this is because nice only takes a nod, a little smile and being in agreement with whomever is speaking. It seems being nice is not speaking one’s thoughts, almost being complacent. If you look back over the list of synonyms, many take action. Kindness is intentional. It doesn’t depend on our circumstances, but on how we react to them and to others.
I do hope you join me in this journey into kindness. Together we can make a difference in our churches, our neighborhoods, our communities and our humanity. Here’s to a kinder 2022!
Photo Credit: Lewis, L. (compiler). July 15, 2017, 10:57 a.m. Arresting Faces, Take 3. Retrieved from https://creativeartworksblog.wordpress.com/tag/character/.
