My Thought for the Day on BBC Radio Ulster considers kindness and grace, from the perspective of a parent with an energetic child.
You can listen here, or read below:
Kindness – Our Big Idea
Churchgoers have been gathering for public worship for several months now. As the parent of a small, active boy, I haven’t yet returned to church. I worry my son won’t observe the expected social distancing protocols, dashing off to hug his Sunday School teacher or an elderly person.
He’s old enough to know there’s still a pandemic on. But he’s also the same boy who sprinted up to the Christmas crib during an Advent service, snatching the baby Jesus from his manger and returning with him to the pew. Thankfully, my congregation reacted to this gesture with mirth rather than condemnation.
The late Fr Gerry Reynolds from Clonard Monastery was a regular visitor to my Presbyterian church. Our minister is fond of quoting him at such times, reminding us that ‘Fr Gerry always said “children are a sign of the kingdom of God.”’
It was hard for me to remember Fr Gerry’s words when my son was chattering away during a prayer or scrambling under my feet. But that’s when I thanked God for the friends who always sat behind us. They were all of an age to have grandchildren of their own. They were sympathetic to my plight and made my son feel like he was a delight rather than a distraction. Sometimes, he snuggled in among them and looked at a book during the part of the service before the children were called out to Sunday School.
One of those women passed away during lockdown. My son was crestfallen when I told him that he would not see her again. ‘I loved her,’ he said. ‘She was as sweet as honey.’
My son’s children’s bible translates Proverbs 16:24 as ‘kind words are as sweet as honey.’ I knew he was recalling those words and remembering her kindness.
Theologian Glenn Jordan has gone so far as to suggest that kindness is Christianity’s ‘big idea’. He said the Christian call to lovingkindness ‘dares us to imagine the domino effect of a single act of grace.’
Jordan also challenged Christians to extend that grace beyond the walls of our church buildings, welcoming the foreigner and the stranger; reconciling with the traditional enemy.
A single act of grace. Kindness made me – the parent with the energetic child – feel accepted. Today, let’s accept the challenge to be kind and, like my friends in the pews, encompass those around us with grace.