This morning I was lucky enough to read about a 16 year old Memphis teen who offered to carry a man’s grocery bags for a box of donuts.  Overwhelmed with compassion, the man proceded to purchase groceries for the teen and told the story on social media.  The story went viral and compassion and kindness poured in.  Donations  flooded the Go Fund Me page that had been initiated by the kind man and will go a long way towards helping the boy and his mother.

In light of the animosity and deviciveness that has sieged our society, we forget there is still kindness.  Nightly news of hate filled presidential candidates and others doing their best to divide us further  are a common sight.  We are inundated with bad news.  We are told to avoid eye contact or closeness with those who may harm us.  We are filled with fear by reports of shootings, muggings, rapes, home invasions.  Amber alerts are issued frequently and our governments warn us to be wary as we never know when the next terrorist attack will occur.  Many of us are now painting groups of people with a wide brush.  If one does a crime, they all must be criminals.  Yes we forget about kindness.  We forget that many of us are hurting, hungry, poor and down trodden.  We turn our eyes to avoid their gaze. We cross to the other side of the street to keep from hearing their story.  We keep our purses closed fearing they will use our generous dollar to purchase alcohol.  We see them, we all see them but are we seeing right through them?  When was the last time you stopped and really engaged with a stranger in need?  When was the last time you gave money or a kindness without judgement?  When was the last time you really looked at someone, really looked?  One kind act can make a day for us and someone else.  Money is not needed to be kind. A smile or a nice word can go a mighty long way.  Today be kind.