Sharing kindness...

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will reward them for what they have done.
​~ Proverbs 19:17
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Maybe it's the summer heat that has overwhelmed the Gulf Coast, and the thought of 100 degree weather in the forecast. Perhaps it was the news that the mother of one of the youth I had in youth group twenty years ago cancer diagnosis has just caught us off~guard. There just seems to be this need for things to lighten up.

As I listened to the husband of one the teachers killed at the high school shooting in Santa Fe, he shared that the night before he and his wife were planning his funeral. He has a life-limiting lung disease, and the news was not good. So the two spent the evening making plans for his ssrvice. Little did they realize she would be killed the next day.

i guess what I am thinking about at this point is kindness. Why at this juncture of life? Why during these circumstances?

It is kindness that allows for peace. Kindmess seems to be the expression of human grace towards one another. It was my coworker this morning who realized I was really struggling to read the small letters on a report, while commenting, "Just give it time to heal. It will be fine."

It is the pat on the back I saw someone give in line at the gas station this morning when a stranger walked in with his Rockets shirt, and the words, "Maybe next year."

While we are reminded to express kindness to the poor, I recognize that poverty comes in many expressions. Poor in spirit. The poor that populate our city streets. The poor in hope who have been left hopeless. Those who are mourning the loss of loved ones. The person stuck in traffic when their AC is no longer working and they are left to sit in 100 degree heat.

Kindness, like grace, is free, and is something we are all capable of sharing. It is that first step in making a bad situation better. It is allowing for someone's story to be told in a room full of people. The bottle of cold water handed to the person who is hot and thirsty. It is as simple as saying, "It will be okay."

Kindness is just one example of what we can provide to and for others, as an expression of God's presence to others.

Stay in God's grip!

​G. Todd Williams (c) 2018
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