Don't Let It Pass

As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.

Albert Schweitzer
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Hello Sue
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This is a subject that is dear to me these days. An act of kindness can be a mighty thing. Kindness often appears to have some divine unction. Other times it seems to have some occult power. An act of kindness may seem to be no more important than a raindrop which has no power to vaporize hostilities, but it might, and persistent kindness most definitely will.

Thee is a story about couple who were breaking up. Too many marital problems had caused a lot of resentment and dislike between them. She was filing for a divorce. But then one day when he wasn't there she saw a pair of his shoes sitting on the floor near the closet. She thought about the man she had loved who wore those shoes, about the brave things he had done when he was wearing them and how, over time, they had been shaped to fit, to caress his feet. She polished and shined them and put them back where they were. When he came home later and noticed what she had done it was like a moment of renewal for them.

There is a problem with kindness when the person you want to be kind to is no longer in your life. There are former friends and family members I wish I could do something nice for. But they are gone. Either they passed from the scene or I don't know where they are, Love and good thoughts are fine, but we often want a hands on expression of our love.

I have a former friend in New York who is convinced I wronged him.. I didn't, but there is no way to change his mind because he won't answer my mail or my calls. And that's another problem, when two people are no longer talking to each other.

In my recent awful experience when I found that a dear friend was deceiving me and being false the friendship ended with a lot of resentment and pain. Even so, my light is always on for a simple act of kindness and reconciliation, But it will probably never happen, alas. My email is blocked. We no longer know each other.

When those opportunities are lost, when those chances pass, of divine unction and spiritual power, those moments of a simple act of kindness. When they are passed by and lost it's a tragic waste.

There is no "why" or "because" about true kindness. It just is.

Dana - The Vagabond
Never Give Up
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