Humans have all kinds of clever gadgets that they use to communicate with one another. This means that they don’t have to screech or whistle or make whacky noises to get each other’s attention. And very often, early in the morning, I find myself in my owner’s bedroom, while he and his wife are still in bed, and she’s looking at videos on her ‘communication machine.’ Yes, she conjures up some kind of sorcery called ‘Instagram’, and then searches for ‘Jess and Norma,’ and a ‘picture show’ begins featuring the lives of two people that she’s never met. Jess is a pretty young lady who helps to look after her grandmother, and the short videos that they produce have my owner and his wife in stitches. They are funny and heart-warming all at once, and anyone that has ever had to look after an elderly relative will find them very entertaining.
In a recent clip, Jess took her grandmother out to the open-air market. And she was pushing her grandmother around in a wheelchair when all of a sudden, the heavens opened and they began to get drenched. And a man, whom they’d never previously met, quickly went to a stall, and bought them both a large umbrella. He refused any payment for his good deed and disappeared from view. And Norma was able to continue going around the market without getting wet.
It's a small, simple story of a good deed, and I’m sure one of many which take place around the world every single day. And it’s a shame that stories like this rarely make the human news. For some odd reason, humans prefer to bombard themselves with bad news stories, strange creatures that they are. And with a daily drip-feed of so much bad stuff, should we really be surprised that 1 in 8 humans on the surface of the planet suffer from depression and anxiety? (But what would a small parrot know about human psychology?)
The story of Jess and Norma is one of love and kindness and humour and goes to prove that if humans can get the ‘right’ mindset, they will encourage a whole lot more love and kindness and compassion in the world around them.
“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
(John Wesley: [1703-1791]: English cleric, evangelist and leader of the Methodist movement)
“He who plants kindness gathers love.”
(Saint Basil: [330-378]: Bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia [modern-day Turkey])
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” (Aesop: [c620-564 BC]: legendary Greek storyteller and writer of fables)
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds.”
(Hebrews 10:24)
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
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