It Is Always Possible

My husband saw a license plate frame last week that said “Be courageous.  Be kind.  Be awesome.”  I love it!

Kindness takes many forms and comes in various sizes and shapes.  It can be performed by anyone of any age.  Witness two sweet stories I’ve read recently, both involving the extremes on the age spectrum: an older man and a young boy.

In September of last year, in Turkey, a boy who looks to be about 12 hit a stranger’s car on his bicycle, due to the fact that he had no working brakes.  The young man, and the community in which he lived, were stunned when, a few days later, the man who’d suffered injury to his vehicle turned up in the neighborhood looking for the boy.  It wasn’t the visit that was surprising – after all, the boy had done damage to his property.  What shocked everyone was what followed.  When located, the youngster was presented with a brand-new red bike, one he could ride safely and that would serve him reliably for years to come.  The picture shows the pair and the bike.  The unexpected gift, and the clemency that accompanied it, brought the boy to tears.

The man whose car was struck and harmed could have reacted very differently than he did, demanding justice and reparation.  Many in his circumstances would have.  This man, however, smiling and gracious, changed the young fellow’s life, and for the better.

There’s no indication anywhere that I can see of whether or not the man is a Christian, but for sure he manifested a quality in this instance that one would hope to see in every follower of Christ.  Jesus said, in Matthew 5:7, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”  Would that I would respond as this good man did in a similar situation.

In the other instance, a boy out shopping with his aunt became aware of an elderly man who was so stooped over that he couldn’t look up or around and thus was having the greatest difficulty securing, or even locating, what he needed.

The boy, Lakken, asked his aunt if he could go help, to which request she gladly and readily gave assent.  He took off, surprising and encouraging the old gentleman who told him no one had offered him help in years.  He was thrilled to have it now.

Lakken found and picked up everything the man wanted, helped him check out and bag his purchases, and had the store call the bus for his ride home.

Lakken, too, displayed a Christ-like character.  He seems to have been raised well and to have learned some lessons early about how we should be treating one another.  Kindness makes it easier on all of us.  Mercy goes a long way toward smoothing the lives of others.  And our own.

I’m with the Dalai Lama, the Turkish gentleman, and Lakken.  If we can be kind we should be kind.  It is always possible.