There’s one particular human that I really rather like. And his name is Pope Francis. Whenever I see him on the TV, he’s always wearing some strange white plumage and a rather natty crest muffler. I like him because he cares about creation and about the wellbeing of humans. And every so often, he comes out with a real pearl of wisdom which makes me sit up on my perch. It was a few months ago that he said this:
“Small acts of kindness, not great speeches, show God’s love best.” (Pope Francis: 1936 – present: Head of the Roman Catholic Church since 2013).
And it’s true. Kindness even on a small scale can make a real difference. And Pope Francis knows that “kindness” needs to be a word of action rather than something that we simply talk about.
So how do we put kindness into action? Well, I probably don’t need to answer that because a great many humans are already showing extraordinary kindness towards the Ukrainian refugees that have fled their homes. In the U.K., over 150,000 families that have offered up rooms in their homes. In Poland and Slovakia, local humans have left prams and buggies at railway stations to help refugees arriving with small children.
www.dailymail.co.uk
And at the main railway station in Berlin, a load more humans have been holding up cardboard signs offering immediate refuge for different sized families. In fact, all across Europe and beyond, humans have been fundraising, collecting supplies, offering free rides and delivering essential supplies to help strangers that they’ve never met. The response has been both wonderful and heart-warming, and a modern-day version of “The Good Samaritan” story in the Bible. Every little act of kindness has helped to counter the evil billowing out of the Kremlin. And so long as humans know how to be kind to one another in all situations, there will always be hope on Earth. Because every act of kindness is a gift from God. And God can use us to deliver His love to the world.
“Pour God’s love out of you in pitcher-fulls, not thimbles.”
(Shannon L. Alder: 1985 – present: American author and therapist).
“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” (Henry Drummond: 1851-1897: Scottish evangelist, biologist and writer).
“At Ukraine’s border, I saw countless acts of kindness in a sea of tragedy.”
(Judge Rob Rinder: 1978 – present: British criminal barrister and TV personality writing for “The Evening Standard” newspaper).
“He that is kind is free, though he be a slave; he that is evil is a slave, though he be a king.”
(St. Augustine: 354 – 430: Bishop of Hippo Regius in Roman North Africa).
“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2).
“As for you brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” (Thessalonians: 3:13).
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