Be Kind

This week, The United Methodist Church lost a spiritual giant—retired Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar. His death hit me hard, and when I reflected on this, I realized because of the depth of his kindness. From his welcoming embraces to the way he looked you in the eye when he asked you how you were, he was a man who was fully present, grounded in grace, and an embodiment love.

I have been thinking all week about kindness. I do think it is a quality we easily dismiss and a power we underestimate. Think about the ways others have brought hope and healing into your life. It’s not usually the grand gestures we think of, but the small ways people saw us, responded to us and our needs, offered a squeeze on the arm, prayed for us, called us out of the blue, sent a card of encouragement, caught our tears.

Scripture tells us that kindness is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5). Paul encourages, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32). Jesus embodied kindness in the ways he saw those the world overlooked, ate with the outcasts, healed those who were hurting, and washed the feet of his disciples.

We live in a world that is in dire need of kind people. Too many of us are stepping over or around those in need. Too many of us allow anger, resentment, frustration, and impatience get the better of us, so we fail to do the simple things that express kindness. We forget that our small, random acts of kindness, powered by the Holy Spirit, make a difference in the lives of those around us.

Consider ways you might express kindness today. Pray the words to this hymn by Margaret Cropper:

Jesus' hands were kind hands, doing good to all,

healing pain and sickness, blessing children small,

washing tired feet and saving those who fall;

Jesus' hands were kind hands, doing good to all.

 

Take my hands, Lord Jesus, let them work for you;

make them strong and gentle, kind in all I do;

let me watch you, Jesus, till I'm gentle too,

till my hands are kind hands, quick to work for you.

 

"Be Still and Know That I Am God"

 

Before I left for renewal leave, one of my pastors gave me a book she and the congregation were reading, “Praying Like Monks, Living Like Fools” by Tyler Staton. There was a section that I have been mulling over: the author told about the time Dallas Willard was asked, “What do I need to do to be spiritually healthy?” Without missing a beat he replied, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.”

That hit me like a ton of bricks.

Most of us live our lives tightly packed, hurrying from one thing to another with scarcely time to breathe. Stop and smell the flowers? Let me see if I can fit it in, maybe sometime next week? Of course, by then the flowers have lost their sweetness and are slowly dropping their petals.

Each morning, I am spending more time than usual in prayer. I am following the advice of the Psalmist, “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46: 10). As I engage in this practice, I am discovering that stillness is not the same thing as silence. I am hearing things I was too busy to hear before. In the stillness, with no words to distract me (including my own), my heart beats to a new rhythm as I sit in the presence of God.

How can you ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life? What might your life feel like if you refused to submit to hurriedness? How might it bring you closer to God?

May you take time in this long days of summer to “Be still, and know that I am God.”