Kindness

Zig Ziglar wrote, “You never know when one kind act, or one word of encouragement, can change a life forever.”

When I was young, I always heard my aunt talking about "Killing with kindness". In my young mind, I couldn't figure out how you can do that. Then as I grew older, I witnessed awesome people who offered bread after being stoned - and my father was one of them. I began to understand the poignancy of acts of kindness. How selfless giving, the pure, sincere kind that doesn't expect anything in return, can melt even the hardest hearts. So "Killing with kindness" actually means that you kill the negative and turn it into positive... acts of kindness despite lack of appreciation or even aggressive behaviour can turn that person to the good... Kindness can resurrect a dead soul, can make a hopeless person see light, can encourage a person who failed to continue striving for success... Kindness is the true manifestation of God's presence in our hearts...

A few years ago, I attended a retreat that strongly impacted and changed my spiritual core value. Our retreat master posed one question that stuck with me until this very day - "If you cannot do what is good and right, how can you say that you love God?"

So everyday, before I start my day, I tell myself, "I am going to do at least one act of kindness today.".... and at the end of the day, I reflect on what I have done and asked myself if indeed I did at least one act of kindness that day... and then I pray and thank God for granting me the wisdom and the faithfulness to fulfill His will by allowing those acts of kindness to happen... and I can feel that this has become my soul's daily bread that if I missed it, I will feel hungry and empty until I have had my fill again...

WHAT HAVE I DONE THAT I ACTED WITH LOVE AND KINDNESS, THAT I DID ALL I CAN TO HELP?