“Be Kind For Everyone You Meet Is Fighting A Hard Battle” – Ian Maclaren
Occasionally, I think back to when I was in the third grade. I don’t recall a lot, but I do remember being in ‘choir’. I loved to sing and the fact that I wasn’t particularly good did not deter me much. I remember singing: “My Home’s In Montana”, “Home On the Range”, and “Waltzing Matilda”. How an Australian song got tangled up in there I have no idea. One day, Mrs. Johnson, our music teacher, started to cry while we were singing and I remember thinking, “We sang so beautifully we actually made her cry.” That is all my eight-year-old brain could come up with. But, as I have looked back on that day through decades of experience I have come to believe that it is extremely doubtful that she was crying because of the beauty of our singing. It is much more probable that she had gotten some very bad news. Perhaps, the death of a loved one, a diagnosis of illness, a financial crisis, or possibly a marital issue. As a young child I had little to no awareness of what was really going on in the lives of others.
Right now, so many people are struggling with the stresses of the Covid 19 pandemic. Each one is struggling with their own unique circumstances. Isolation from loved ones, loss of income, the stress of learning new routines, being threatened with loss of health, or possibly even life. Everyone needs to be touched with love and kindness. Paul wrote from his prison cell in Rome and encouraged the church in Ephesus saying, “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32 - NKJV). It is amazing how far a little kindness can go. A word, a gesture, some encouragement, or a helping hand are worth more than we could ever know. It is easy to see and feel what we are going through, but as God’s children He wants us to extend kindness to all of those around us. I want to pass along a secret I have discovered from my experience, when we show kindness to others they are buoyed and lifted up, but we are the ones who are blessed. When we extend kindness to others, God responds by pouring out His kindness on us.
May you find new paths of blessing in the coming days,
Pastor John