Go out into the world today & love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people. —Mother Teresa
How often have you given thought to the off the cuff activities and conversations that you have every day? Most of us are not so preoccupied with how our actions are received.
A random act of kindness is a selfless act performed by a person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual or in some cases an animal. There will generally be no reason other than to make people smile, or be happier. Either spontaneous or planned in advance, random acts of kindness are encouraged by various communities.
I did attempt to trace the origin of the phrase unsuccessfully. However I did find this music video which is full of quotes going back to the Hebrew Talmud and Greeks such as Aristotle and Seneca. I runs for four and a half seconds but is worth the listen
This video that runs for 3minutes is a good representation of thoughtfulness that is truly random. The basic element in this video is to be observant and look out for the good of others.
This is an entirely Christ inspired attitude, for example Paul wrote in Romans 12:10-11 Love each other as brothers and sisters and honour others more than you do yourself. 11Never give up. Eagerly follow the Holy Spirit and serve the Lord. This is the basis of the above video, looking out for others, not expecting any benefit apart from some sort of “feel good” lift from the act
The following is a TED talk about internet Random acts of Kindness. It runs for twenty minutes however it opens up the entire area of the internet as an opportunity to perform random acts of kindness on an international scale. In a way the option exists to be creative and bless people internationally without leaving our lounge room, or study, now it is possible to see, or hear, of a need and be able to pass that on to someone who may be in a position to resolve that need.
Insignificance can be significant; there is no action which does not have a response. Scientists will tell you that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. It might sound strange to place these comments like the above in a blog about Random Acts of Kindness however it serves as a warning. While we have a Bible verses that tell us that we should be dealing with people in the basis of RAoK, people are free to interpret our actions in any way the wish. This is not intended to be an out when people choose to mistake what one of us may have done, it is more a note to be prepared when others read what we do negatively.
I had intended according to one of my sources to open with a quote from the film Evan Almighty. However having re-reviewed that source I feel this is the better place for it at the business end of a blog, the finish.
The scene is when Evan and his family are on a hike. God asks Evan how he would change the world and he responds with “One Act of Random Kindness at a time” as god, using his stick, scratches in the dirt ARK. Now we know that there will never be a need for a big boat like that again, Even did have a good answer, one that perhaps we should take a little notice of. Today our society is going down the gurgler however if we took up the challenge, en mass, of making a difference by taking up the strategy of Many Acts of Random Kindness.
Now how is that for a challenge.
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