What a goof, this kid!
Last night, he walked around our living room providing some comic relief to our day by wearing a box on his head. “Come over here kid, let me see you,” I called to him from the couch. “Where are you mama? I can’t see a thing!” he replied, his giggles echoing into the cardboard.
Then his twin brother called out “let me try” and they went back and forth with the box for a little bit in their own two man comedy show.
So, of course, I took some pictures of the goofiness. And as I looked back at the photos this morning, I noticed for the first time the contrast between this child’s head and his shirt. His head was stuck in a box with the word “kind” printed all over it. And his shirt said “No way dude.”
An accidental yet meaningful combination of words.
I genuinely hope that MOST of us want to be kind MOST of the time to one another. But I also know that the temptation to say “No way dude” also creeps up when what is necessary to be kind seems too challenging or out of our comfort zone. Maybe without even realizing it, all of us sometimes say “No way dude” to the call for kindness through our words and actions.
So my prayer is that God open our eyes and ears to the subtle calls for kindness today. Maybe it will be the call to assume good will of a colleague or friend. Maybe it will be the call to re-consider our response to someone before posting on social media. Maybe it will simply be the call to take a deep breath before we respond to a family member who is getting on our last nerve – even if that person is ourself.
May God give us all we need today to recognize and respond to each new situation with kindness.
Feel free to put your head in a box covered with the word “kind!” if it would help… I might just do that myself!
