kindness /ˈkʌɪn(d)nəs/ noun  = the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate

it’s something i think all of us can do.  we are all capable of doing an act of kindness.  i wonder why it’s called a random act of kindness.  is this an indiction that we aren’t kind as part of our inherent nature, and that’s why it’s random?

random /ˈrandəm/ adjective = made, done, or happening without method or conscious decision.

what if we weren’t randomly, unconsciously deciding to be kind, but we intentionally choose to be kind to someone every day?

it could be as small as a smile to a stranger that you walk past at the street, a gentle hello or thank you to the bus driver, or even a loving embrace to someone who is feeling low.  i know a friend who instead of spending five minutes on social media, would send out a short sms/whatsapp message to friends to let them know what they meant to him.

what’s one deliberate act of kindness you can do today?  it might cost you your a fraction of your time today, but isn’t it worth it?

this last week, i was amongst a group of people, most of whom believe in jesus.  we met together, but not in a physical church building.  each night, we heard short messages from the book of john in the bible, and talked about jesus.  then, we said grace and ate together and had meaningful conversations.  during this last week, i’ve had conversations around  generosity, grace, faith at work, the love of jesus and experienced these in action – love, patience, joy, peace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  and we witnessed god’s goodness and faithfulness through his wonderful creation of sun, snow and wind.

each of us came bringing food and drink to share it with others in the group.  and there was no lack.

was this gathering called “church”?  or do we physically have to be in a building to bring joy and worship our maker?   i believe this was an example of the church scattered.  we all came together, drawn by the love of snow.. and in the midst of life, deep conversations occurred.  and people who haven’t experienced the church gathered in a physical building were able to experience the depth of fellowship that exists because of our common love of our creator, our maker, our God.