Greetings!

I trust you have been well. A number of you reached out to me about my no show last week and I am truly grateful for your concern. To know that one’s thoughts and experiences, conveyed in the simplest of words, make a difference to another’s life, is pure joy! Believe me, more often than not, today being a case in point, I simply sit at my computer and begin to type. Sometimes there’s a really strong sense of what I want to say and at other times, it’s just whatever is in my gut that spills forth, often unbidden. What I have come to appreciate therefore and so accept, is a deep need for unadorned honesty, as I give written voice to my feelings. In doing so, I give carte blanche license to the Holy Spirit, to do what She wills, with whatever comes forth. So, thanks for the alwaysness of your encouragement by simply reading and for those who go further to leave a comment about that read – I am grateful.

Now, last time I wrote, I shared a little of my understanding of the gift and blessing of kindness, alluding to the possibility of a second edition. Well, here goes…

Years ago, while admiring a piece of jewelry I was wearing, a colleague at the office cheekily enquired from where I had got it [laik mi kiahn bai nuttn fi mi self], adding that I shouldn’t bother telling her someone had given it to me [which had been my response, on a number of similar occasions previously]. “Well”, I replied, “what do you want me to do, lie”? With an exasperated sigh and vigorous shake of her head, she walked off mumbling something that sounded like…“mi nuh noa a ow yu wan lukki su”!

The truth is I have long dispensed with the notion of luck, in relation to the blessings that are extensions of the kindness of others. My dear departed girlfriend Marva would always remind me that people’s kindnesses have nothing to do with luck; their good and gracious actions she opined, are God’s way of demonstrating via human agents, the extent of His loving care. He works in and through others to meet our needs, many of which are beyond the physical.

How else would I explain the loving kindness, of a young lady in her mid-twenties [my girlfriend’s daughter], who some years ago, decided to spend two weeks with me, during a period in which I was unwell? Those two weeks stretched into two years, and cemented a beautiful bond with my niece that is priceless! There is also the fact that I am blessed with friends, whose kindness is sometimes demonstrated, let’s just say…differently! Whenever I succumb to the lower levels of my being and make an ass of myself, these friends are kind enough to help me realign my focus, by pointing to the fact that as a beloved Child of God, more and better is expected of me, because of the divine image in my DNA. Read the preceding sentence as a valiant attempt via euphemism, to describe the no holds barred telling off, that cannot be adequately articulated [laugh]. To be sure, I have been on the receiving end of kindness from so many, it would take an entire ream to chronicle individual acts.

But there is another variety of kindness – that which is not about receiving. This is kindness that issues from one’s nothingness; it is related and in proportion to one’s faith; it is directed by God and is a gift of the Holy Spirit. Such kindness is of a higher order, caring not one iota about a return favor or even the gratitude [which in all sincerity, many of us secretly desire]. This version of kindness strips one of literal and metaphorical possessions, placing everything on the line in order that God and God alone, is glorified.

The Gospel reading in my Church yesterday was from Mark 10: 17 – 31. There is a line in the narrative that tugs at my heart strings, every time I read or hear it read. It is in Jesus’ response to the young man who proudly declared his faithfulness in keeping the law, the one who wanted to know what else was needed to inherit eternal life. Mark tells us that before he gave a further verbal response, Jesus looked at the young man and that which arose within him was pure love [my translation]. In other words, there are some situations in which kindness is conveyed more eloquently via body language than actual words or deeds.

It stands to reason then [at least for me] that genuine kindness: that which seeks neither reward nor outward acts of praise, is connected in an umbilical sense to agape. For this reason, when directed by divine love, we are constrained, beyond the limiting aspects of our humanity, to esteem others above self and allow Immanuel to control our every response [or reaction].  

Two days ago, I looked through a window here at home and seeing the man who comes regularly for his supply of food items, told him before he said a word, that I needed a break! He had received a sizeable package two weeks before and I was annoyed at what I concluded was his too soon return and my not wanting at the time, to be bothered. Now, in retrospect, I may have turned Jesus away [cf. Matthew 25:40]. I hope I’ll be given another chance to make it right and so practice that which I proclaim…which I know to be true.

Until next week, stay safe and as you experience being in His grip, share the blessing with others and revel in the joy of knowing…you have done it to Him!

Grace+