Kindness
By: Angel Murchison
I attended a high school graduation at a private school for gifted students a few months ago. I still ponder that evening and the words still echo in my mind each day. The speaker that night was a teacher that the students had selected among the staff. She was one of them, one that received the honor of speaking into their lives for the very last time. Her final speech took a twist I never suspected. These students with extremely high IQ’s were given an assignment that would impact our world no matter where life would take them. Some may become chemists, some great surgeons but my prayer is they will bear the fruit of this woman’s speech that night. Her topic was on kindness. She spoke in a voice that carried throughout the auditorium that kept the attention of everyone in attendance. Her advice to the graduating class, those very gifted students that were given an opportunity to attend such a credentialed school and with IQ’s higher than most, to never forget kindness. Kindness, can you believe it, kindness, a fruit of the spirit. The very words our Lord Jesus Christ gave to this world.
As I reflect back on my own life and remembered prayers I have prayed, kindness was one character traits I asked the Lord to develop deep within me. The reason I asked and the prayers I prayed was it was the trait of my mother that died when I was barely eight years of age. I wanted to grasp at something that was my legacy, my inheritance from a woman I barely knew or could remember. Everyone who met my mother and spoke to me about her always mentioned that one word, kindness. Maybe that is why that speech impacted me with great significance that night, I’m not sure, but it did.
My mother died at a younger age than most, in her forties. Life wasn’t always fair to her; she had no letters beside her name that made the world remember her for her earthly status. However, I find it interesting the one word people remembered her for was the kindness she brought to this world.
It seems like several years ago now, I journeyed the two hour drive to the cemetery where this precious woman is buried. That Sunday after church I wanted to go reflect on the memories I have treasured in my heart and to see if any more came to the forefront of my mind. I arrived a little after two that day and as I walked around her headstone grasping for memories, I saw a woman by another stone. Being a bit bold as well, I walked towards her and began to inquire if she knew my mother, and she did. She was a relative. She took me back to the home she was visiting that day as her drive was several hours longer than mine and showed me pictures and spoke the sweetest words about the woman that carried me in her womb for nine months, my mother.
I think about that day. It was no special day marked on the calendar such as, Memorial Day, Mother’s Day but just an ordinary sunday. What are the chances another woman that knew my mother and had memories I was grasping for would be there on that day and at that exact time? Only the Lord God and his kindness for mankind could orchestrate such an event. Only Jesus, the kindest man I know. The man that loves me beyond my comprehension could order my footsteps there at the same day and the same moment. His love for mankind that is so hard to grasp.
Today, let’s show some kindness to the world. It doesn’t matter how important you are, how insignificant your life may seem, you can make a difference. Go beyond yourself today and look for someone to be kind to. Give a smile, a warm embrace, a word gently spoken to someone in your path today. As your day unfolds look for those folks that God has orchestrated for you to meet. Today is your day, a day given to you to enjoy. Don’t let it pass by without making your mark on it. Spread kindness today all around this globe I pray, and I can assure you it will come back your way.
Colossians 3:12
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
