Being Kind... A Wor[l]d Apart

Just wondering: when you hear the word, Kind, what goes through your mind?  What is your definition of Kindness?  How does a Kind Person behave?  Is a Kind Person considered strong or weak?

These thoughts went through my mind as I reflected on the contrast between various Kindness memes posted on Facebook and the reality of how some people express themselves in the Comments section of Facebook or on X ("formerly know as Twitter").

How do you respond when there are disagreements?
(Photo credit:  Facebook download)

Sometimes, there is a harshness and an accusatory nature to people's interactions online and in the written word.  What is off-putting:  The words?  The tone?  The labeling?

Kindness?  Am I missing the kindness in a person's raw honesty?  Or is kindness absent when we disagree?

Do you choose to be kind... all the time?
(Photo credit:  Banksy, Facebook download)

You can see that I have a lot of questions when it comes to What We Say and What We Do!  Oftentimes, kindness, respect, and understanding are missing when we disagree.  We protect ourselves from the other...Person? Ideas? Actions?

The phrase "I guess we agree to disagree" -- even when said kindly -- recognizes the barrier between us.

How do you make others feel?
(Photo credit: Winnie the Pooh Addict, Facebook download)

The dictionary lists many synonyms for Kind and Kindness -- compassionate, generosity, sympathy, tenderness -- but only one antonym -- cruel.

The choice might be very simple as we meet others and listen to their differing experiences:

• Do we want to show compassion... or cruelty?
• Do we want to be generous... or selfish?
• Do we want to sympathize... or ignore their humanity?

The contrasts are stark when looking at words and actions this way:  we may be words and worlds apart!

 We have a choice today: To Be Kind... or Not!

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

A Heart That Listens

Have you heard the phrase "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder"?  Recently, I read  that this saying first appeared in Greek in the 3rd century BC.  The saying did not surface in English in its current form until the 19th century.  There were similar versions as people over the centuries attempted to explain the subjective nature of what we like or don't like.

I wonder:  does Beauty Exist... whether we see it or not... and we have the personal choice to experience it or not?

Are we able to see beauty?
(Photo credit:  Michael Tompkins)

In other words, our seeing and accepting Beauty does not negate its existence.  Rather, our personal and individual choices filter the world:  we accept only a portion of the beauty that exists; there is so much more than what we hold in our limited and time-focused minds.

If this is true about Beauty, is it the same for Truth and Kindness and Goodness?  They exist, but our minds pass over what we do not understand.  Our finite lives experience what we are able to in that Moment of Choice.

Does beauty exist if we don't see it?
(Photo: Sunset at Sea, Larry Gardepie)

Dialogue is one tool that allows us to ask questions, to seek understanding, and to touch briefly another person's world... a world of Truth and Beauty that already existed even before our questions and understanding.  The passing over and resurrecting The Choice to see beauty invites us into opportunities to reconnect with family and friends.  The ability to Be Kind and Listen is the salve that heals our blindness to the Beauty, Truth, and Goodness that already existed in those around us.

When can your kindness heal the hearts of others?
(Quote attributed to:  F. Scott Fitzgerald)

May these Holy Days of Passover, Ramadan and Easter open our minds and eyes to the Holy One that exists in you and your families.

Blessings as faith stories are remembered and dialogue enkindles what is important. 
 

Larry Gardepie

Dialogue San Diego Consulting

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