Friday 9 April 2010

Kindness is one of those words which has become devalued over time, don't you think? Like an old painting which has faded with age, or a jar of spice too long in the cupboard which has lost its flavour - it feels a bit weak and insipid. If somebody has done something good and worthy but un-dramatic - we call it 'kind'. Sometimes it can be like damning with faint praise.

Well, today I want to stand up for poor old kindness and thank God for it. Not so long ago my family and I went through a very difficult time, with somebody seriously ill in hospital. All of a sudden life was plunged into a kind of whirlwind of strange events. Plans went out of the window, engagements were cancelled left, right and centre and each day became punctuated by hospital visiting hours and negotiating the dreaded car-parking. In the midst of it all the kindness of others was an absolute tonic. I'm not just talking about the 'professional' kindness of those in the hospital either. We expect those in the caring profession to care, after all. But all sorts of wonderful things happened. Cards dropped through the letter box, bags of shopping appeared on the doorstep, piping hot dishes of hot food appeared just when it was time to eat. It was like being carried along on a kind of flying carpet of other people's good deeds. Each one contributed a little, and between them they made one HUGE difference.

When the church was still new, just a hundred years or so after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the Apostle Paul wrote a list of the kind of things which should set his followers apart. He called these things the 'fruit of the spirit' and in amongst others like gentleness, faithfulness. love, joy and peace - there was kindness. It was the kindness of Christians back then which eventually put an end to all sorts of awful things like gladiators fighting to the death and children being neglected. Hundreds of years later it was the kindness of Christians which helped to put an end to the slave trade. And hundreds of years after that it was the kindness of ordinary people which kept a certain Baptist Minister going when things were tough.

Whatever you do today - be kind.