Doing good for the right reasons isn't always a popular choice. You'd think it would be. But it's not always recognized for what it is. And that's a shame. What's sadder is when doing good, with kindness and compassion, is seen as weakness.
It's not.
Being kind, even when it's difficult, takes more strength of character than not. Kindness and compassion are never weaknesses. Afterall, that's what God tells us to do.
Kindness, love, compassion and understanding - these are the strengths of character that few possess. And it is an honor and blessing to have people like that in my life.
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I got into a disagreement recently with a friend from college over, of all things, a quote from the Dalai Lama on compassion + kindness. Her argument was that the Dalai Lama was not of Christ, and that therefore his words had no merit. she also said that hatred and distrust were in human nature, that it was naive to believe that humans could rise above that without divine assistance. I reminded her that Christ himself had advocated for tolerance, kindness, and compassion among our fellow people.
I had to back out of that argument. her secular experience is different than mine, and her religious experience is obviously different than mine. She was fixated on Jesus being the Way to Salvation, while I was trying to remind her that he'd given some good teachings on how to make this world a bit better, too.
Isn't that always the oddest situation, Jer? That in an attempt to "be Christian" some people actually end up being far from it. Intolerance is farther from Christ than the Dalai Lama is, I'm sure.
And no matter what you believe, you my friend, are one of the most tolerant, kindest, compassionate people I have ever met. You have always fought for the underdog, always defended those who needed defending and always been kind even when it may not have been popular. That hasn't changed once in the decades I've known you. A blessing to me, you are, indeed.
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