“Since the takeover by ‘smart’ technology,” I heard an authority on human behavior say recently in an interview, “the quality of kindness is now perceived as being indicative of a weak personality.” The man gave examples that seemed to prove his statement. He followed that by saying that our smart devices and their developers are programming us, and the loss of kindness has resulted.
I sat shaking my head, horrified to realize how far we’ve gotten from centre. But then he noted that not everyone has lost that beautiful quality God built into the psyche of human beings at creation. Around twenty percent of we humans haven’t caved to social media constructs.
While shopping recently, an acquaintance named Twila ran into one of those “twenty percent people.” With her permission, here’s her story:
“I have to share this random act of kindness that happened to me while shopping last week. I had my youngest and her friend along with me and they were having fun and playing as kids do as I was shopping.
“An older gentleman stopped me and asked how old they were and then commented on how nice it was to see kids playing so freely. A few minutes later he told me he had some wooden toys in his car and asked if they can have them. My motherly instinct questioned this but thought that it couldn’t hurt to show my gratitude. Groceries in cart a while later, we headed out to the car and sure enough out came the gentleman from his car with two beautifully handcrafted wooden toys. ‘Jesus said it is more blessed to give than receive,’ he said, “but you already knew that didn’t you?’ ”
“I readily agreed, not sure how he knew that I knew that as well. I thanked him profusely for his kindness and generosity. ‘You have put a lot of years into raising your kids,’ he said. ‘All I did was make these toys.’
“The generosity and words and kindness of that man made my eyes tear over. As he turned to leave, I asked his name. He gave it (not quoted here), then got in his car and drove off. My eyes followed his inconspicuous car, looking for clues to see if I had just spoken with an angel or if indeed kindness was just shown in a big way through flesh and blood.
“I wanted to share this “Random act of kindness/encounter with an angel in flesh” for you to get a glimpse of what I (saw) that day; the goodness of the people around us. Don’t forget to share at least a smile with a stranger around you as you go on your way. You never know how much it may brighten their day because … ‘Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
Thank you Twila, for letting me share your story with Sunny Side Up readers. Perhaps it will inspire more of us to be among that twenty percent in 2020.
