Will you be kind today?

“Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your modus operandi and change the world.”

—Annie Lennox

The Great Requirement to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8) brings us today to the second of them: love kindness.

What does it mean to be kind?

What does it mean to love being kind?

The word for love in the passage is the Hebrew word Chesed, which is a reference to the Shema Yisrael, a confession of faith: “Hear O Israel, you shall love God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and strength; and you shall love your neighbor as you love yourself.”

When Jesus was asked, “Who is my neighbor?” he told a story, the conclusion of which, and the answer to the question, was “The one who showed compassion.”

In that spirit, let me tell you a story, a true story to be sure, but a story nevertheless.

For some 27 years prior to my ordination I was a music minister, and my work was mostly in Catholic churches. In the ’ 70s and ’ 80s there was an energy caused by the Second Vatican Council that led to worship in English, lots of new music (most of which was being written at the time — I contributed to that as well) and increased participation by the worshipping congregation.

During my time as a music minister I met folks from a little Catholic Church in the community of Keaukaha, Hilo, Hawaii. It was the first time I had really encountered a community that was living out the Great Requirement. Keaukaha was a poor community by most standards, and the church practiced economic justice by pooling their resources for the intended purpose of helping those in need.

I visited them almost yearly for a time, and on one of my visits I heard about the “Witch of Keaukaha.”

She wasn’t really a witch, but she was mean, always complaining about the church services and meetings. You see, she lived right next to the church. Another detail about Keaukaha: Because of the rainfall on that side of the island, most of the houses were built on stilts to avoid flooding the homes.

The witch’s home was built like that.

One night, as the pastor, Father George, was meeting with some of the church members, they heard an awful crash. Running outside to see what had happened they saw the Witch of Keaukaha standing in her doorway looking down at her back porch, which had fallen completely away from the house. She was actually trapped in her home with no way out.

Father George and the others helped her out of her home and surveyed the damage. What they realized was this woman had no resources to make the repairs on her home.

At the next Church Council meeting her plight was on the agenda. Despite the fact she was not a member of the church. At the heart of the discussion was how they might help her knowing the church had just stepped up to help one of their members whose house had caught fire and was badly damaged. The financial burden they had taken on to rebuild the house was a big commitment.

Finally, one of them said, “Well, it looks like we have two houses to rebuild!” And so they did.

In our world where kindness seems to be for suckers, a sigh of weakness, and meanness is the modus operandi for many, and even some churches lay requirements on people before they are willing to help, I remember this story of the Church and the Witch of Keaukaha.

And I’m reminded that loving kindness changes the world. Will you be kind today?