"The mosquitoes are out!"
He said it with gravity, panting from the urgency of his message. We all needed to know this most important fact. "The mosquitoes are out!" I smiled the whole way home, each time his words replayed - his words, and the seriousness of their delivery.
Earlier this week, the 451 bus stopped on Cabot St, near they YMCA, and rumbled there. Cars lined up behind it. Then started honking, but the bus just sat. Then a woman, dangerously thin, unsteady, stepped out. She was turning back, to talk to the driver - she seemed confused - but the honking continued and the bus pulled away. As I passed, I felt a sadness, and the phrase we must be kind positioned itself at the front of my mind. The impatient car-horns hurt me. All I could think was what kind of difference will an act of kindness instead of frustration make?
Yesterday at the tea shop, a couple came in. One of them bought a whole pound of a tea he's never tried. The other bought good amounts of several other teas - also unknown to him. When they told us that they'd been married three years ago, there was uncertainty and challenge in the older one's voice. They were both friendly, and open, and that now how will you treat us? saddened me. After they left, my co-worker and I talked about it. We both noticed the challenge, and we both were not quite surprised by the statement, and we both felt that we hadn't started acting differently because of it. What good does it do anyone, we agreed, if we treat people unkindly when we disagree with them, or are challenged by them? Or if they look differently or act differently than we anticipated? How can we expect to be a positive influence if we will not treat people with kindness?
I am reminded of the fruits of the Spirit so often recited from Galatians: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Do we remember all of them? I forget the middle few. I remember love, joy, peace, and patience. And I remember self-control, because I spent my teen years forming rigid boundaries for myself. But what about kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness?
These four deeply concern our relations with others, with strangers and friends. And I forget them. I try to learn how to love people, but then get lost in the details of how to love. But isn't kindness a display of love? Doesn't true gentleness come from a heart that is dwelling in peace? How about faithfulness - is perhaps our ability to be faithful a corollary to our patience? Then I must ask: is goodness connected to joy? Whether it is or not, if I treat people with kindness and gentleness, they will feel loved. If in all my dealings, I exhibit goodness and faithfulness, people will see something rare.
As Irene blows towards us, much more peaceful than predicted, I can't help but think that there's more to a diminished storm than God's mercy. We've been praying for that - for mercy - and there will be much less damage than we originally thought. But God knows better than we do what is good for us - mercy could have included a hurricane. Instead, mercy is gentleness. He gives the East Coast less than we expect, less than we arguably deserve. Maybe we need to pick up on this.
Maybe we, as the people of God, need to focus more on kindness and gentleness than on argument or annoyance. Maybe we need to learn to cultivate goodness instead of loudly decrying evil. Maybe we need to be faithful in the relationships we have, and in how we live our lives, instead of shifting our stance or availability when the weather changes.
How kind am I?
How gentle, how good, how faithful?
Not nearly enough. I want to be better - I desire more kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness. No incident is too small to be significant - am I kind, or rude? Did I act in accordance to the way I speak, or is there discrepancy between who I say I am, and who I seem to be?
Father God, in Your kindness and faithfulness to me, help me to become more kind and faithful. Out of Your goodness, teach me to be good. With Your gentleness, lead me into a more gentle life. Give me a kind life, a good mind, a faithful heart, and a gentle spirit.
1 comment:
amen.~D.
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