Love Is…Kind

When I think of loving kindness, one word springs to the forefront of my mind: mercy.  Showing mercy can range from helping someone pay their bills to simply saying hello to a lonely person.   It can turn the ugliest situation into an opportunity for healing, peace or happiness.  Simply stated, you provide relief.  Your soul warms the soul of another and you create a divine connection regardless of how minute or grandiose the act of kindness seems to be at the time.  And it is so beautiful.

Sounds exquisite, right?  Well, it can be hard work.  It is hardest when you are in need of a little kindness yourself and no one seems to be in a giving mood that day.   But I had to remember that what I do to others, I do to myself. That is why kindness is equally extolled in a multitude of religions:

 Buddhism

“Kindness should become the natural way of life, not the exception.” (Gautama Buddha)

Islam

“Be kind, for whenever kindness becomes part of something, it beautifies it. Whenever it is taken from something, it leaves it tarnished[i].” (Prophet Muhammad)

Christianity

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. (Luke 6:35)

My aversion to extending kindness became increasingly evident as I meditated on love.  It all boiled down to whether or not I felt the person on the receiving end deserved my kindness.  I believed I had been so unjustly victimized by many people that I found it difficult to give unless someone gave to me first. Not only did I find it difficult to be kind, I found it effortless to be mean most of the time – especially to someone close to me who had disappointed me.  The best example of this is the way I treated a man I once claimed to love.  Anyone who has ever been in a relationship can understand what it feels like to be disappointed by your partner.  Sometimes our issues would lead to arguments, but most of the time I used my silence to be cruel.

One day tragedy struck…and literally overnight…I found myself alone.  No family, no friends, no man – just me.   I had no one to be mean or kind to that night.  Whenever I think about it, I am reminded of how quickly things can change in our lives, yet the world keeps spinning.  Time keeps moving.  The present moment keeps turning into history.  How many of those moments were filled with kindness from one soul to another?

God made it a special point to set aside kindness as a fruit of the spirit because it makes us better human beings.  Kindness is our life line!  Think about a time when you were desperate.  No one owed you anything.  But someone was kind to you when you needed it the most and as a result, you survived.  Do not hesitate to harness the power of kindness and pay it forward.  It is probably the best boomerang you will ever throw.