photo credit: apollonio&battista/cc 2.0My bloggy friend Se-Lah over at NECESSARY ROOM is hosting a Random Act of Kindness Day on July 6 in honor of the Dalai Lama's 75th birthday. You know who is participating of course, and I hope you will too! I'm forcing myself not to think about it until Tuesday so that my kind act(s) will be truly random, but I am committed to participating. I have, however, been reflecting on the times I have been on the receiving end of a random act of kindness.
One such extraordinary gesture that sticks out in my mind is the time I almost lost my mother. I was a freshman in college and just returned to my scholarship co-op from Thanksgiving break when I got a call from home that my mom, who was 7 months pregnant with twins, began hemorrhaging in the middle of the night and had to be rushed to the hospital. I was ready to go to the Greyhound station and catch the next bus, but one of my roommates grabbed her car keys and offered to drive me to Miami. I was so struck by her generosity that I just bawled. We had only been living together a few months, we weren't even suite-mates. We hardly knew each other, but she didn't hesitate to help me in my time of need. I will always be grateful to her.
I have always equated kindness with having grace. My pastor once said that grace is having the power to slam a door in someone's face, but choosing to open it instead. It's so easy to gloat, be cruel and kick people when they are down. Even worse, we often look the other way when we are in a position to help. Think how much better our world would be if we opted to exercise a little kindness everyday.
4 comments:
It's a pleasure to have you on board, Teresha. I know I've been many times over been the recipient so it feels so good to give back.
one love Sis.
What a beautiful story! It's strange, I'm trying to think of some gesture of kindness that I was the recipient of and I'm coming up blank. But as I touched on in my post today, I have been the recipient of so many kindnesses. Maybe they just weren't "random"?
Actually, one comes to mind. When I was in college, my friends and I would go into NYC to this little Italian restaurant that had to have been a front for something. The owner was this old Italian guy, bad English, wearing the wife beater in the summertime, the whole bit. I wouldn't usually have the money to get anything but a glass of cheap wine and Michael almost always sent out a little something for me so I didn't have to sit and watch while my companions ate... a soup, antipasto, etc. I lost touch with Michael and have often wondered where he is today.
What and inspiring story! Did the twins make it? Have a Happy 4th of July!
I thoroughly enjoyed exploring your blog a bit today, which I discovered because of your comment on Se'lah's blog about the Bridge of Love. Thank you so much for including a couple of bits about times you were on the receiving end of a random act of kindness. I was so touched by one of the stories, I mentioned it and your blog in my post today about the Dalai Lama's birthday celebration.
Many blessings.
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