Love They Neighbor Revisited ~ Kindness Need Not Be Random

Greetings Dear Reader,

When I was young things contrived to build up a great deal of anger in me.  I had no mechanism for dealing with it at the time.  Some was justified and some was my indulgence of my darker nature.  For a time, anything that felt good hurt.  I was on the road to hard-hearted hatred of myself and every other human.  I was also very good at acting like I did not.

Then a stranger infused some very intentional and determined kindness into my life.  He refused to let my mask and my hard heart keep him from being kind to me.  He spent time and effort teaching me how to be tenderhearted.  I promised you some practical approaches to loving one’s neighbor.

It may be as simple as looking for opportunities to be kind.  Whether it is setting a standard of being kind to everyone we encounter or seizing opportunities for intentional moments of kindness out of the ordinary, we can set our hearts toward always being kind.  We can choose to be kind to others as a matter of course.

Loving one’s neighbor requires kindness.  The best way not to miss it is to practice it intentionally.   Engage with people.  Treat them as more than the service they provide or the stranger next to you.  When we intentionally infuse kindness into the lives of others we set aside our busy selves.  We see the people we encounter as humans to be loved and valued.

Again, this seems like a broad stroke.  In truth it is a standard that can guide almost all of our congress with others.  As I move through the day my attitude is much better because I am focusing my mind on being kind to my family, the people I see, and those who attend the places I go. 

It is in this tenderheartedness.  It is in this intentional kindness.  This is where I find the capacity to love my neighbor in the moment.  Planning and executing intentional good keeps me from all kinds of bad.  Little by little it drains the deep well of anger and pain filled from my youth .  It is in this intentional choice to love through action that peace is found.  Acts of kindness need not be random.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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