Being Kind

 Kindness has been on my mind recently. There seems to be a lack of it in the world at the moment. You only have to look at social media to see how an innocent post can go south very quickly. In fact, I have been laying low on Facebook, posting only birthday wishes and weather observations. Coming off of Holy Week, I have been thinking about what kindness means.

Kindness is "a deep-seated desire to promote well-being and happiness, not just for yourself but for those around you" according to Google AI.  I think it is more than that. It should be a way of life, something you practice without looking for praise and thanks. Rick and I went with a group from church to "Feed my Starving Children" a few weeks ago.  If you are not familiar with this nonprofit organization, it combines a high-energy, team-building atmosphere with packing meals to be sent to countries where many people are starving. The meals are high in protein and vitamins and designed to supplement locally available starches, like rice. Around 20 teams work hard for 90 minutes, competing against each other to complete the most boxes of meals. I spent the time adding scoops of dehydrated vegetables to the meal packs. They run 5 shifts per day, 6 days per week, so there are a lot of meals being packed. At the end of the shift, they told us that we had packed 105 boxes, containing 60,480 meals, enough to feed 166 children a daily meal for a year! 

So why does this organization rely on volunteers to pack the meals when automation could probably do the same thing? It comes down to engagement. We felt good about spending a part of our Saturday doing something for people we will never meet. It was fun, we made friends. Of course, we were encouraged to donate to the organization. There was a  small store stocked with hand-crafted items made in the countries served, providing some income to people living on very little. Many of the teams were youth groups, both church and high school. They may not have thought much beyond the fun they had but action helps service become a way of life. Kindness has a way of spreading.

We often complain about what other people do or fail to do. For example, the spring winds spread a lot of trash, mostly fast food wrappers and beer cans thrown out of car windows as people speed down our country road. The day after the trip to Feed My Starving Children, my husband and I went out in the sunshine pulling a wagon and some bags and picked up a load of trash, including a piece from a car that crashed into the ditch by our house almost a year ago!  We filled the public trash can on the walking trail while barely making a dent in the problem!

Abraham Lincoln said, "He has a right to criticize who has a heart to help."  It is another windy spring day today, so the trash will be blowing around. Time to go out again-just as soon as the wind drops!