Kindness (07/22/2026)

I called like I try to do daily. She was more chatty than usual. After a couple of minutes, she told me she had gotten a card from her nephew and his wife, then she read it to me. She ended by telling me how they had always been kind to her. I agreed. And we both agreed that kindnesses like that matter.

When my husband came upstairs after bible study that night, he went to the fridge to see if there were any leftovers for him from our dinner. He spotted the pint jar of peaches immediately. He took them out, got his spoon, went to his chair, and he got lost in his happy place for a few minutes. When he re-emerged, he told me to be sure and tell my special peaches friend “thank you!” I promised to share the message.

Kindness shown to others matters to the recipients. I know how much it means to me when someone does something totally for me – no reward for them – they get nothing out of it other than witnessing my joy. And I find that the kindest people are also usually the happiest.

Recently I read an article written by Laurie Santos, a Yale University Psychology professor, about happy people. She made the comment that happy people are not focused on themselves but rather are other-oriented. I would have to agree with her. The LORD calls us into relationship with Him and with others and both, if we are to grow in those relationships, require concern and consideration for the other even to the point of sacrifice for the other.

I remember well years ago when trying to minister to a grieving mother I found that her tending to others who were grieving actually helped her as much as the ones she was ministering to at the time. Somehow, in the midst of her own suffering, she actually found moments of joy when she addressed another’s need. It lessened her own suffering even if for only a little bit.

All of us know someone who needs a card, who would appreciate a jar of peaches, who would be so grateful for companionship on a difficult journey. It’s not that these needs must be created, they already exist. It’s that we must decide to look outward, see the other, and act with generosity, with consideration, with compassion, with empathy. And we may find that it brings us as much joy as the recipient. The LORD made us and the world that way – “it is in giving that we receive.”

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.