Love is Kind

It’s interesting that “Love is Kind” follows “Love is Patient”. Several years ago a study was done by a TV program on how people respond behind someone at a red light that doesn’t go. In the study they had someone stop a car at a red light and wait for someone to come up behind them. When the light turned green the test car remained in position and did not move. They did this in three areas of the country, South, East Coast and West Coast. They started in a city in the South. The car behind waited through two red lights before just going around the car in front. On the West Coast the car behind waited through one light then honked their horn when the light changed green again. On the East Coast the car behind honked their horn as soon as the light turned. Patience and kindness often work together. I think that’s why Paul probably put them together.

Four years ago while I was making some hospital visits I went by the room of an older lady whose son was dying from AIDS. It was sad to see him wasting away and his mother with eyes swollen from tears watching him slowly dying. There wasn’t anything I could do for him but pray. Instead of just saying the prayer I reached out and took his hand. It was a surprise to his mother since most people were afraid to touch someone with a disease such as this. Not long after the young man died.

A couple of months ago his mother came up to me after Bible class. “I still remember and thank you for when you came to the hospital; took my son’s hand and prayed with us.”

It was a simple gesture, but an act of kindness that she cherished four years later. Kindness is one thing that can be given away and doesn’t have to cost us a dime. I remember the time that one of the ladies at church was too short for her feet to reach the floor. One of the men of the congregation saw this and decided to do something about it. The next time she came to worship there was a stool for her to rest her feet upon. She never knew who put it there.

We recently stayed at a hotel in San Antonio. As we left the first morning we left $5 for the maid and thanked her for doing so well in cleaning our room. We came back later that day and as we were leaving a housekeeper stopped us and asked if we were room so and so. We said we were and she proceeded to thank us for the gift.

Kindness may just be saying thank you to a waiter or waitress who serves you at a restaurant. It may be picking up merchandise on the floor of a store and returning it to the shelf. It may be holding a door open for someone or passing up a parking place so the people behind you can have it even if you have to walk an extra distance yourself. It may be waiting patiently as a new person is trained at the cash register or simply telling someone you appreciate how they helped you.

The writer of proverbs wrote, “An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” A kind word can make a person’s day. It can give them hope that life is better than they thought.

The story is told of Abraham Lincoln visiting a battlefield hospital during the Civil War. He approached the bed of a soldier who was dying and who did not recognize Lincoln. The young man asked Lincoln to write a note to his parents expressing his love to them and his family. The young man weak and dying could say very little so Lincoln concluded the letter, “written for your son by Abraham Lincoln.”

The young man asked to see the letter and upon seeing Lincoln’s name apologized for not recognizing his commander in chief. Lincoln then asked if there was anything else he could do. He requested that Lincoln hold his hand during his final moments of life. Lincoln sat holding the young man’s hand until sunrise when the young man passed away. It was a simple act of kindness from the most powerful man in the country for someone he had known less than 24 hours.

Simple acts of kindness are free to give and valuable to receive.

So today, hold a hand, open a door, and say thank you, praise good work, smile and share the gift of kindness with everyone you meet.

Next Week: Love Does Not Envy

Love is Patient

I was feeling really good when I drove into the bank drive-in. There were six lanes open with two cars in each. As I drove up one car went on through so I pulled behind the single car. Fifteen minutes later I was still sitting in the same spot. All the other lanes had fulfilled the needs of the two cars in line and were now servicing the second influx of vehicles. By the time I moved up after twenty minutes of waiting I had seen more than a dozen other cars come and go and I think the leaves start to change on a tree or two.

 

So I decided from that point on to do a study of cars in the bank drive-in and see if there was a way to tell which line to choose. Through months of study I found out there are certain vehicles you avoid. 

1. Never get behind a pick-up with more than just the driver if it’s a man. This is probably a construction crew and each man wants to cash his check and they must all be done separately. Each man in the pick-up equals a car and a half. The half is because it takes longer to do cash transaction than a deposit.
2. Never pull up behind a mini-van driven by a woman with kids inside. This is a mother who is probably frustrated with everything that is going on and will probably not have her deposit slip ready. And when she’s done she’ll have to send the carrier back because all the kids will want a sucker.
3. Never pull up behind an automobile with a business sign on the side. These are normally business people who don’t want to go through the commercial line. Their deposits are usually large and take up the time of two or three cars.
4. Never get behind a full size vehicle with someone with gray hair. I fit the gray hair part but don’t drive a full size vehicle by the way. These are usually older people who need help filling out their deposit slip. In addition they don’t trust the teller so they make sure to turn off their engine and count all the cash before they leave. It also takes longer to get the driver’s license back in their wallet.
5. Never, ever pull up behind someone who is shaking his head. This means he knows what he wants and why he’s here. He’s done his duty by filling out his deposit slip, added everything correctly and just wants to get through. He’s shaking his head because the teller is new and has no idea what he or she is doing and wonders why the person on the driver license picture has different color hair. 

So having all this knowledge I pulled into the drive-in, studied the situation and pulled up behind a vehicle that met my new criteria and proceeded to wait while all the other cars in all the other lanes went through before I did. It was at that moment I realized I needed to work on the one factor I had left out; my lack of patience.

 

Patience is a virtue that almost everyone struggles with at some time or another. It’s used 25 times in the New Testament and self-control another 5 times. The lack of patience is a result of our worrying about things or in many cases just being in too big a hurry. It comes mostly because we put ourselves in a tight schedule and leave no room for enjoying life around us.

 

Several years ago I heard a song by AGAPE that has always stuck with me:

Have Patience, Have Patience 

Don’t be in such a hurry 

When you get impatient 

You only start to worry 

Remember, Remember 

That God is patient too 

And think of all the times when others 

Have to wait on you. 

 

Now when I sit in line at the bank drive-in I tune to XM Radio Classics and listen to a story while I wait. When I sit in a doctor’s office for two hours past my appointment time I carry a book to read. When I stand in a long grocery line I laugh at the tabloid headlines and watch how people react and tell myself, “I use to be one of those”. I’ve learned to give myself an extra hour or two if I’m driving through Dallas on a Friday afternoon at 4:00 during football season.

 

But most of all I’ve learned to be more patient with people. They may not move as fast as I want them to, but that’s okay, sometimes I move slowly myself. They may have a hard time with change when I want it to happen more quickly, but sometimes it takes me longer also. Everyone moves at his own pace and I have to be patient with those all around me that are moving at different speeds whether faster or slower.

 

Paul said “Love is Patient”. He said that because people are more important than the entire hullabaloo that goes on around us. Learning to be patient forces us to be more aware of the world around us. Learning to be patient forces us to realize that people are people just like us who have good days as well as bad. Learning to be patient is an act of love.

 

So next time you feel a little impatience coming on remember the last line of the little song above, “And think of all the times when others have to wait on you.”

 

Next Week: Love is Kind

 

The Legend of Gelert

Lying in a remote part of North Wales is a small community called Beddgelert with a population of only a few hundred. The one big attraction to tourists as they pass through the town is a well maintained grave. It’s the grave of a dog whose name was Gelert. On the monument is the story of how he came to rest in this place. Some call it fact while others call it a mere legend. Any way you look at it the tale inscribed upon the stone is a sad one.

"In the 13th century Llewelyn, prince of North Wales, had a palace at Beddgelert. One day he went hunting without Gelert, "The Faithful Hound", who was unaccountably absent.

On Llewelyn's return the truant, stained and smeared with blood, joyfully sprang to meet his master. The prince alarmed hastened to find his son, and saw the infant's cot empty, the bedclothes and floor covered with blood.

The frantic father plunged his sword into the hound's side, thinking it had killed his heir. The dog's dying yell was answered by a child's cry.

Llewelyn searched and discovered his boy unharmed, but nearby lay the body of a mighty wolf which Gelert had slain.

The prince filled with remorse is said never to have smiled again. He buried Gelert here".

It reminds me of another incident. One in which a man was beaten, scourged and hung on a cross when all he was trying to do was save those who killed him.

However, the monument left behind is not made of granite, but of flesh and blood. His followers, the church, stands as a reminder that we, His heirs, live because of Him.

“For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”