Acts of Kindness: Small Gestures, Big Impact

Dear Friends in Christ,

Earlier this week, I came across a post on my Facebook feed. It narrated an experience a driver had while stopped at a busy intersection, lost in her own thoughts. She wrote, “I looked up and taped to the back window was this sign: ‘Please be patient with me. I’m learning to drive a stick shift.’” The light turned green, and she watched the blue pickup hiccup and sputter forward. She then asked herself, “Would I have been as patient if I had not known about the driver learning this new skill set?” She admitted, “Probably not!”

This morning, while scrolling through reels on Facebook, I came across a reel of a woman in a parking lot—any parking lot in Anytown, USA—stacking, or should I say, rolling grocery shopping carts together and parking them by size in the “cage” in the parking lot. I laughed out loud because that would be, and is, something that I would do too. I don’t claim to have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but I do like things orderly and streamlined. I often find myself thinking of that box store employee whose boss expects him or her, young or old, to wrangle these carts together. It is quite a task, herding carts, especially when, in the heat of the summer, the temperatures are oppressive. At times, it can feel impossible. I find myself doing exactly what the woman did. Maybe you do too!

In both these life encounters, the main character chooses to engage in an act of kindness. The driver was patient, although she could have honked her horn aggressively, but no, she waited. She knew making it worse would just make the pickup driver even more anxious. The grocery cart gal gave the employee a gift.

Something you might already know about me is that I like to engage in acts of kindness. Just this kind of act, ever so small but impactful, can brighten a person’s life. I encourage you in the next week, to look for those moments when YOU can engage in acts of kindness. Maybe it is waiting patiently to be served, maybe it is bringing someone flowers, smiling at strangers, or telling someone how much you appreciate them. My father would always leave a small can of soda or bottled water in the mailbox in the summer, and a single serving of Kit Kat chocolate in the winter. I know, as we found them in his home after he passed.

Do something nice for someone this week and reflect on their reaction. It might just surprise you as to how much you will change too!

Blessings,

Rev. Anne+