From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Mar 29 2009 - 12:55:18 EST
A SIMPLE ACT OF KINDNESS
Dr. Tesfa G. Gebremedhin, University of Bahrain
29.03.2009
Many times we either do not know or we forget in the every day bustle of our
lives to remember our little acts of kindness and they are often the ones
that remain unforgettable to the recipient. Sometimes little acts of
kindness can become giant deeds to the other person and can make all the
difference in the world and still we may not even have realized what we have
done right. Likewise, we may forget how those little acts of arrogance have
left an imprint on those around us. Sometimes little acts of arrogance can
create serious misunderstandings and conflicts with the other person and
still we may not even have realized what we have done wrong. We have
observed little acts of arrogance and hostility that aggravated a violent
situation and escalated into full scale quarrels, squabbles, and animosity
in our own households and society. A simple act of kindness and tolerance
could only take a few minutes of our time, but it could provide a lifeline
of peace and harmony to our community and religious institutions. The
following true story by John Schlatter, modified for our purpose, reflects
the simple gesture of kindness of one person to another.
Solomon was walking home from school one day when he noticed Samuel, the boy
ahead of him, had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying,
along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder.
In his simple act of kindness, Solomon knelt down and helped the boy pick up
the scattered articles. Since they were going the same way, Solomon helped
Samuel to carry part of the burden. As they walked Solomon discovered that
Samuel loved video games, baseball and history, and that he was having lots
of trouble with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his
girlfriend. They arrived at Samuel's home first and Solomon was invited in
for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed pleasantly
with a few laughs and some shared small talk, then Solomon went home. They
continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice,
and then both graduated from high school. They ended up in the same college
where they had brief contacts over the years. Finally, the long awaited
senior year came and three weeks before graduation, Samuel asked Solomon if
they could talk before they go their separate ways. First, Samuel reminded
Solomon of the day years ago when they had first met. Samuel asked, "Did you
ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day? You see, I
cleaned out my locker because I didn't want to leave a mess for anyone else.
I had stored away some of my mothers sleeping pills and I was going home to
commit suicide. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing,
I realized that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that time and so
many others that might follow. So you see, Solomon, when you picked up those
books that day, you did a lot more, you saved my life." Solomon never
realized at all how his simple act of kindness saved Samuel's precious life.
Though an act of kindness can become its own motive, Solomon did what he did
because he was raised by a good family who taught him to do the right thing.
Every one of us can also do similar acts of kindness in our own community
because there is always enough time for love and kindness. As Mother Teresa
said, "God does not expect us to do big things, but small things with love
and kindness." Those acts of kindness that we do need not be directed to
someone we know. A simple smile, words of thanks, a slowing of our pace to
let someone else go first in line at the grocery store, at the hospital, to
let pedestrians go first at a traffic stop, and show courtesy for an old
person to have a seat in a city bus, are some simple acts of kindness. We
probably do many of these things unconsciously, but we need to try to
consciously help someone and we would all feel inner happiness and peace.
Not only does the recipient benefit from those precious few moments we
devote to the other person, but also we can learn to leave our own lives
from time to time and think of someone else in our community. We feel so
much better when we step outside ourselves and do someone in our community
an act of kindness at any day. If we want kindness, love, respect from
others, we must send out the same acts of kindness to other people. The
world would be a wonderful and a much better place to live in, if we all
took the time to do one act of kindness each day to someone else, at least
in our own household to our own children and spouses and further to others
in our own community. If we take a few moments of our time everyday to
listen to our children and offer parental advice not in the form of
commands, but in the form of statements in friendly and kind words, our
children will keep cherishing our wisdom for ever. An act of kindness is the
golden chain by which people of the same community can be bound together.
Many of us, particularly the first generation of Eritreans in Diaspora, are
ageing and we are very close to retirement. Some of us have already started
to be bored now before retirement because our children have gone out to
pursue their professional careers and to live their own lives. After a few
years some of us will retire and we do not really know exactly what we will
be doing with the remaining years of our lives. After we become too old to
walk around, we may be confined in our own homes or we may even end up in
nursing homes. Then, we shall need somebody to do an act of kindness for us.
To have a good reflection as to how we would feel when we are too old, let
me take you on a visit to a nursing home. The person at the front desk of
the nursing home would take us to a beautiful old lady. Let us take the time
to visit with this old lady who is sitting alone in a room waiting for an
old friend or a relative to stop by, even though this old lady knows it has
been so long ago since someone visited her and she has already given up hope
for someone to visit her again. We don't have to know this old lady we would
be visiting. Just let us take some beautiful flowers to her and tell her
that God asked us to stop by and say hello. Then let us share with this old
lady something of ourselves by reading to her an interesting poem or a short
story from a book, or by listening to a nice piece of music together. After
spending an hour or two let us wish this nice old lady a happy day and ask
if we can come back again sometime to visit her. That profound little
gesture would be a wonderful act of kindness that takes a little doing on
our part but, the reward is so much bigger than the little time we would
spend with that lonely person. That old, lonely lady in the nursing home
would be forever grateful for the simple act of kindness. How would you feel
if you were that lonely person in that nursing home?
Obviously, our time to end our life on earth and to meet God face-to-face is
not far away. It is true that our salvation will depend, not on our
perfectness, but on the undeserved mercy of the God who knows our deepest
motives. However, we have to remember that He will ask us what we did in our
time on earth to justify His gift to us of life. We should be able to tell
Him that we heard His message that He wanted us to visit a special person in
a nursing home, or a person with terminal illness in a hospital, or a drug
addict in a city jail, or a homeless sleeping in a park. At the time of
judgment, we should be able to say to God that we did a simple act of
kindness for someone. Since God works in mysterious ways, we should be aware
that He may well place a person for us in a nursing home, or in a hospital,
in a market place, even in our own home or community, or anywhere any day on
our way home or work, just to give us a training ground for the bigger plans
He has for us now, that would prepare us to go His way to earn His grace.
That simple act of kindness that we may offer to anyone at any time brings
sunshine into the lives of others, even to the unkind that needs it the
most. The little acts of kindness that we do for others are the best parts
of our lives.
A SIMPLE ACT OF KINDNESS
Dr. Tesfa G. Gebremedhin, University of Bahrain
Many times we either do not know or we forget in the every day bustle of our
lives to remember our little acts of kindness and they are often the ones
that remain unforgettable to the recipient. Sometimes little acts of
kindness can become giant deeds to the other person and can make all the
difference in the world and still we may not even have realized what we have
done right. Likewise, we may forget how those little acts of arrogance have
left an imprint on those around us. Sometimes little acts of arrogance can
create serious misunderstandings and conflicts with the other person and
still we may not even have realized what we have done wrong. We have
observed little acts of arrogance and hostility that aggravated a violent
situation and escalated into full scale quarrels, squabbles, and animosity
in our own households and society. A simple act of kindness and tolerance
could only take a few minutes of our time, but it could provide a lifeline
of peace and harmony to our community and religious institutions. The
following true story by John Schlatter, modified for our purpose, reflects
the simple gesture of kindness of one person to another.
Solomon was walking home from school one day when he noticed Samuel, the boy
ahead of him, had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying,
along with two sweaters, a baseball bat, a glove and a small tape recorder.
In his simple act of kindness, Solomon knelt down and helped the boy pick up
the scattered articles. Since they were going the same way, Solomon helped
Samuel to carry part of the burden. As they walked Solomon discovered that
Samuel loved video games, baseball and history, and that he was having lots
of trouble with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his
girlfriend. They arrived at Samuel's home first and Solomon was invited in
for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed pleasantly
with a few laughs and some shared small talk, then Solomon went home. They
continued to see each other around school, had lunch together once or twice,
and then both graduated from high school. They ended up in the same college
where they had brief contacts over the years. Finally, the long awaited
senior year came and three weeks before graduation, Samuel asked Solomon if
they could talk before they go their separate ways. First, Samuel reminded
Solomon of the day years ago when they had first met. Samuel asked, "Did you
ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day? You see, I
cleaned out my locker because I didn't want to leave a mess for anyone else.
I had stored away some of my mothers sleeping pills and I was going home to
commit suicide. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing,
I realized that if I had killed myself, I would have missed that time and so
many others that might follow. So you see, Solomon, when you picked up those
books that day, you did a lot more, you saved my life." Solomon never
realized at all how his simple act of kindness saved Samuel's precious life.
Though an act of kindness can become its own motive, Solomon did what he did
because he was raised by a good family who taught him to do the right thing.
Every one of us can also do similar acts of kindness in our own community
because there is always enough time for love and kindness. As Mother Teresa
said, "God does not expect us to do big things, but small things with love
and kindness." Those acts of kindness that we do need not be directed to
someone we know. A simple smile, words of thanks, a slowing of our pace to
let someone else go first in line at the grocery store, at the hospital, to
let pedestrians go first at a traffic stop, and show courtesy for an old
person to have a seat in a city bus, are some simple acts of kindness. We
probably do many of these things unconsciously, but we need to try to
consciously help someone and we would all feel inner happiness and peace.
Not only does the recipient benefit from those precious few moments we
devote to the other person, but also we can learn to leave our own lives
from time to time and think of someone else in our community. We feel so
much better when we step outside ourselves and do someone in our community
an act of kindness at any day. If we want kindness, love, respect from
others, we must send out the same acts of kindness to other people. The
world would be a wonderful and a much better place to live in, if we all
took the time to do one act of kindness each day to someone else, at least
in our own household to our own children and spouses and further to others
in our own community. If we take a few moments of our time everyday to
listen to our children and offer parental advice not in the form of
commands, but in the form of statements in friendly and kind words, our
children will keep cherishing our wisdom for ever. An act of kindness is the
golden chain by which people of the same community can be bound together.
Many of us, particularly the first generation of Eritreans in Diaspora, are
ageing and we are very close to retirement. Some of us have already started
to be bored now before retirement because our children have gone out to
pursue their professional careers and to live their own lives. After a few
years some of us will retire and we do not really know exactly what we will
be doing with the remaining years of our lives. After we become too old to
walk around, we may be confined in our own homes or we may even end up in
nursing homes. Then, we shall need somebody to do an act of kindness for us.
To have a good reflection as to how we would feel when we are too old, let
me take you on a visit to a nursing home. The person at the front desk of
the nursing home would take us to a beautiful old lady. Let us take the time
to visit with this old lady who is sitting alone in a room waiting for an
old friend or a relative to stop by, even though this old lady knows it has
been so long ago since someone visited her and she has already given up hope
for someone to visit her again. We don't have to know this old lady we would
be visiting. Just let us take some beautiful flowers to her and tell her
that God asked us to stop by and say hello. Then let us share with this old
lady something of ourselves by reading to her an interesting poem or a short
story from a book, or by listening to a nice piece of music together. After
spending an hour or two let us wish this nice old lady a happy day and ask
if we can come back again sometime to visit her. That profound little
gesture would be a wonderful act of kindness that takes a little doing on
our part but, the reward is so much bigger than the little time we would
spend with that lonely person. That old, lonely lady in the nursing home
would be forever grateful for the simple act of kindness. How would you feel
if you were that lonely person in that nursing home?
Obviously, our time to end our life on earth and to meet God face-to-face is
not far away. It is true that our salvation will depend, not on our
perfectness, but on the undeserved mercy of the God who knows our deepest
motives. However, we have to remember that He will ask us what we did in our
time on earth to justify His gift to us of life. We should be able to tell
Him that we heard His message that He wanted us to visit a special person in
a nursing home, or a person with terminal illness in a hospital, or a drug
addict in a city jail, or a homeless sleeping in a park. At the time of
judgment, we should be able to say to God that we did a simple act of
kindness for someone. Since God works in mysterious ways, we should be aware
that He may well place a person for us in a nursing home, or in a hospital,
in a market place, even in our own home or community, or anywhere any day on
our way home or work, just to give us a training ground for the bigger plans
He has for us now, that would prepare us to go His way to earn His grace.
That simple act of kindness that we may offer to anyone at any time brings
sunshine into the lives of others, even to the unkind that needs it the
most. The little acts of kindness that we do for others are the best parts
of our lives.
Tesfa Gebremedhin, Ph.D.
Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics Division of Resource
Management P. O. Box 6108 West Virginia University Morgantown, WV 26506-6108
304-293-4832 ext. 4467
<mailto:tgebrem@wvu.edu> tgebrem@wvu.edu