Cost of Kindness
12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Colossians 3:12, NLT
What does it cost to be kind? This has been on my heart in this last week since I read an article about restaurant workers. The owners of a restaurant shut down for a “day of kindness” because of the abuse their workers received from customers. In the Bay Area, there was an article about the CHP seeing an increase in reckless driving. I thought it was just something I was noticing; it seems that there are more rude drivers on the roads.
In the pastoral prayer on Sunday I asked that we might be more aware and take time to be a little more kind to those who are serving the public. It still begs the question though, “where is this coming from?” Or maybe a better question to consider is, “how might I help bring hope, kindness, or goodness in the spaces in which I travel? We can’t read others but we can be aware of our own thoughts and actions.
So what is the cost of kindness? Whatever the price of a smile, a kind word, a listening ear might be. The benefit to the recipient as well as the giver is beyond measure. We are called to be light in the world and according to the song, kindness is a one way to let our light shine: “Don’t walk around the down and out/Lend a helping hand instead of doubt/And the kindness that you show every day/Will help someone along their way/You’ve got to try a little kindness/Yes, show a little kindness/Just shine your light for everyone to see…” (Curt Sapaugh and Bobby Austin)
– Pastor Carolyn
Saturday, July 31
9:00 AM – LABC Reads – A Promised Land by Barack Obama
10:00 AM – Time for Prayer – Psalm 71
Sunday, August 1
10:00 AM Worship (in-person, ZOOM, livestream)
11:45 AM Adult Bible Study (ZOOM, in-person)