A Story of Kindness
A friend called me recently to tell me that one of her
daughter's teachers had committed suicide. Needless to say,
everyone involved was extremely upset by this.
Many looked upon this as a selfish act on the part of the
teacher. I thought to myself how quick we are to judge another
after the fact. And how terribly slow we are to recognize the
walking wounded all around us.
The news of this teacher's suicide reminded me of a story I read
about an elderly woman who had decided to take her life one
morning, but someone had stopped to feed the pigeons with her in
the park and the kindness of that one stranger changed her mind
and saved her life. We never know what is in another person's
heart. What level of pain they may be going through. And in some
cases, the pain may be so great that living no longer seems an
option to them.
We may never know the sometimes immense consequences upon
another, of an unkind word, a thoughtless deed, or a hasty
decision made from an unexamined heart.
Each day, everyone of us, has a new opportunity to make a huge
difference in this world. If I had one dream for humanity, it
would be that tomorrow morning we would all wake up with
amnesia. We would then see the world for the first time, with
new eyes, the way a new born baby sees it, except that we would
be in a grown up body.
We would have no conception of what was considered beautiful or
good or important according to society's ridiculous standard of
worth. Everything and everyone would be a blessed opportunity
for us, just the way they are.
Life would be waiting with another possibility to be all that we
could be. Another opportunity to practice the gift of kindness
in every moment. Another chance to rise above our mere mortal
existence and for that one grand moment in time to walk among
the gods. Another day to love.