[This article is by Dr. Carol Reynolds, and I wrote the prayer.]
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9 NIV)
He stretched as far as he could, but even with the sleeves of his Oxford shirt rolled up, there was not enough arm to reach the toy. So, Radovan took the plunge, literally pushing his arm shoulder-deep into the water to fish around and snatch the little boy’s car from the depths of the fountain.
“Bravo,” we shouted, breaking into applause. “Bravo, Radovan!” A tour director whose behavior had been impeccably formal throughout our journey, Radovan Ilijin gave an embarrassed grin as he rolled down his sleeve to inspect how wet his shirt was.
It was definitely wet. Even the audio listening-box he wore around his neck to track the narratives by our local guides had gotten a good splash. A thorough daubing with his handkerchief, though, limited that damage. Furthermore, the sun was shining in Lucerne, so his shirt should dry before the morning passed.
Moving between two groups of our tour guests, I had entered the square (and the drama) after the child had lost the toy. I learned later that he had been happily pushing it along the fountain’s rim until he gave a shove that sent it careening off the uneven stone.But Radovan saw it all, especially the forlorn look on the child’s face. Fortunately, the boy realized he was too small to retrieve the toy, so all seemed lost.
That’s when Radovan made his split-second decision, his mental process written all over his face. He went instantly from uninvolved bystander to hero willing to abandon professional composure to get that boy’s toy.
Radovan’s action to rescue the car was a gesture of spontaneous humanity. It put a mile-wide smile on the child, who skipped off gaily. As Radovan was unrolling his sleeve, though, the boy skipped back, looked up at tall Radovan, and said “Thank You” in beautifully accented English.
I began writing this essay over a week ago while still in Switzerland. I wanted to tell you of this small act of kindness and move, from there, into the history of the Fritschi Fountain—a landmark filling the square where Lucerne’s famous Carnevalcelebrations begin. From there, I intended to move to the story of the long, covered Chapel Bridge, a spectacular 14th-century structure that suffered terrible damage in 1993 from a fire caused by a thoughtless flick of a cigarette. But that essay isn’t writing itself today. Instead, this one is.
So much has happened since that sweet moment in Lucerne. On the joyful side, at the tour’s end I flew directly from Zurich to Louisville, Kentucky, to join up with a symposium staged every summer by Memoria Press, Highlands Latin School, and Memoria College. That fact, in and of itself, is scarcely worth reporting. This part of the story might be, however. While descending to baggage claim, disheveled and fumbling unhappily with my Uber app (whose only answer was “No pickup available in this area”), I looked up to see Charlie, my eight-year old grandson, standing at the bottom of the escalator. Before I could squeak, his ten-year old sister Patti moved next to him. Apparently, I then screamed: “Why are you in Kentucky? Why are you in Kentucky?!”
Flashing through my mind were weird thoughts, such as I’d taken the wrong flight and landed in Greensboro instead of Louisville; or the grandkids, for some reason, had flown to Louisville as unaccompanied minors, which, of course, made zero sense. For another split-second, my jet-lagged brain wondered whether the conference had happened as scheduled, my mind had flipped it into the past, and I was now arriving back home.
Amidst all these thoughts, I hugged the kids wildly. Then Hank walked up, with his sly grin and I realized that those little buggers had driven that very morning from Winston-Salem to meet me and hang out in Louisville for the rest of the week. Suffice it to say, this was the happiest shock of my life.
Around us, though, the world is swirling with quite different shocks. Via online awareness, we feel these terrible shocks within seconds of their occurrence. We stay shocked and shaken with an overload of drastic news shaped by endless, often false, nearly always vitriolic e-chatter. If only it were just chatter. But the shocks concern issues of life and death. The grimness of what we absorb daily threatens our ability to find peace, as each of you knows. Without pretending to take on this immense topic, I will venture to say this much.
There are limits on what we can do, individually, even collectively, to counter massive, threatening events like the Chinese military buildup, the explosion of Anti-Semitism, the chaos of our open borders, or incidents of random violence. What we can do, though, is redouble our efforts at kindness. Individual kindness. Personal kindness. We can help lower the level of hatred rotting our culture. We can make sure not to participate in the hatred. We can try, with every muscle, to separate out the person from the offense. Most importantly, we can begin to be kinder to everyone around us.
Daily, hourly, a kaleidoscope of possible ways to be kind spins before our eyes. Traditional gestures of kindness offer small drops of healing, from holding open doors to yielding a great parking place to someone who seems more anxious. Kindness might take the form of breaking the numbing anonymity of our modern society by wishing strangers a “good morning.”
Another avenue of expression would involve rendering compliments to people whose hard work is generally overlooked. Consider how many people in their late 60s, 70s, 80s, are still working long hours at jobs like stocking shelves or being a cashier. Surely, this is not how they envisioned spending their golden years!
And even if they continue to work because they enjoy the routine and personal contact, stocking grocery shelves is not particularly fun. Nor is standing for hours, ringing up groceries and absorbing customers’ complaints. So many older people are trapped in an economic downturn exactly as they reach the phase of life where their physical strength diminishes. What, then, might be gained by finding a way to acknowledge their work and thank them (“Wow, those eggplants surely look beautiful today!”). Each of us gladdens when someone takes time to see us, notice our effort, and appreciate it. It may come down to a simple thank you, a compliment on a person’s hair-do or lovely smile, or a shared comment about the weather. But we would be communicating with one another.
Radovan’s rescue of the toy car was a small kindness, except it wasn’t so small. In fact, I would be willing to bet that this incident will rise as a top memory for everyone in our group who saw it. I haven’t forgotten it, and it has filled me with the desire to find and comfort people despairing in ways not so different from that little boy.
I, like you, am seeking answers. I, like you, want my energies to lead to good and fruitful things that help heal our societal wounds. I, like you, want to be effective in pouring my efforts into the nurturing of the next generation. We are all charged with the call to extend, and be worthy of, our inherited legacy of beauty, goodness, and truth.
Therefore, in the middle of whatever form of activity we have, let us remember how easily a kind word or helpful gesture can become the cup of water offered in Christ’s name, to use biblical terms. Radovan dried a child’s tear by soaking his shirt. In doing so, he did more than gladden a child’s heart. He revealed the true nature of his heart. A stretch across a fountain’s rim, a quiet nod or friendly comment issued from the side of a grocery basket, can be a small step across an ideological divide. Rather than something trite, it has the power to rekindle our shared humanity.
Merciful God,
Thank you for examples of kindness in our lives and for your Holy Spirit within us that helps us to be kind. Show us moments where we can extend kindness, grace, and hope to those around us. Show us ways in which we need to crucify our flesh, keep in step with the Spirit, and reach out to people who need your Light. Help our thoughts to be rooted in what is true, noble, right, lovely, excellent, and praiseworthy, and to put into action our godly thoughts. In small ways and large, may we show your Grace, Peace, Love, and Kindness to our world, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-25 NIV)