Thistlewood

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see” Mark Twain 

At youth group Sunday evening I was talking with one of our 10^th graders. She is involved in a unique club at her high school called, “Best Buddies,” and her face absolutely lit up when she started talking about it.  

Best Buddies pairs students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities for the sake of friendship.  

Every morning as we walk down the street with our son to his school, we pass a father and son as they wait for his son’s school bus to that same school that our youth attends. We’ve developed the kind of friendship one does when exchanges occur in 30 to 90 second intervals. Sometimes we linger into longer conversations, until the bus arrives, and all of his focus needs to be centered on getting his son onto the bus. We know a few things about one another: he is a filmmaker. His son has an older sister who is a senior at the high school. His wife was traveling last week, so his hands were full with getting everyone up and out. We call one another by name.  

I asked our youth group member if she knows this young man we pass every morning. Not only does she know him, but one of her closest friends is his “Best Buddy.” She told me that being in the “Best Buddies” club is her favorite part of high school. Amazingly, more than 60 students without disabilities are involved ~ so many that not every student has an individual buddy, and some instead serve on committees that plan events to foster fellowship among all the students. Monday morning after that conversation at youth group, we came across our friend and his mom at the bus stop. I mentioned to her that I’d been speaking with one of our youth the night before about the Best Buddy club and that this youth is involved and is very close friends with her son’s Best Buddy.  

“Oh, Emma!” she exclaimed! 

“We LOVE Emma!” 

What was even more encouraging was the response from her non-verbal son. He was crouched on the cement, holding a drum, and when his Mom said Emma’s name, he responded with his whole body. He beamed with a smile from ear-to-ear, he waved his arms, and he bounced up and down.  

“Kindness” she said.  

“That club teaches nothing but kindness. If we could all have just a measure of that, it would change the world.” 

Kindness is a fruit of the Spirit. The Greek word χρηστότης (khray-stot’-ace) represents “kindness, goodness, and gentleness.” A cursory glance at where it occurs in the New Testament shows that more often than not, χρηστότης is used to describe God’s actions, rather than humanity’s. But it is a gift the Spirit gives and ripens within us. Interestingly, it is derived from a word that means, “useful.”  

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted,” says Aesop. 

I am reminded of Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus where he writes,  

“⁴But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions ~ it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.  

As much as kindness is a gift that God gives to us, both in His manner toward us and in cultivating kindness within us, it is also something that is learned, modeled, and observed.   

In addition to purchasing mattresses and bed frames, some of you thoughtfully purchased bedding with each of James’ three children in mind. Others donated funds to help stock their kitchen and pantry, and still others ensured that the children would have the needed booster seats for driving around in the U.S.  

Thank you for your kindness.  

“You can always give something, even if it is only kindness.”
Anne Frank. 

When I think of how I want to be considered or thought of by others, I think, “She is kind” would be one of the highest forms of compliments. I do not always feel kind. Sometimes I have to purposefully exercise it as a discipline. But I know it changes my day when others are kind toward me. And a school activity that fosters kindness is one I hope my guy will want to be involved in.  

May the Spirit continue to ripen the fruit of kindness within us.  

“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness
is on her tongue.” 
(Proverbs 31:26)