If it's not kind is it anything at all?
There is no end to how kind, kindness is.
Unwrapping this gift is a radical act of bravery that reveals how anything other than kind, is confused.
By this optional allegiance to kindness, moment to moment- I am brought to my most honest knees. Any injustice I have ever witnessed is mine to be re-appraised through the eyes of kind. In that clear seeing, I am a witness to and participant in a beauty that 'human being' is truly capable of.
Kindness doesn't sit and turn a blind eye to anything- it rises up on your behalf. With it, we can see how oppression, violence, racism (separation) are relentless symbols of our great need for each others clarity. With kindness as our companion, we're not afraid to look into the face of fear. We squeeze our friend's hands tightly, swallow deeply and LOOK. We discover how truly ready we are to re-define 'human being.' Every unaddressed race issue on the job, child beating in the bedroom, self-disparaging glance in the mirror, is an opportunity to call on kindness. I do this for myself, and for anyone, whom for whatever reason, finds they cannot. likewise, I join in a full-chorus of others who affirm and amplify my call, others from all walks of life, who have gone before me and will continue after me, NOW.
In this admission, I have taken a stand for kindness. I am freed of any story of how I think you should be, and I am then available to heal with you. When I teach fear I am saying, 'fear is more valuable than kindness' - and I am confused. Innocently, and perfectly so, but confused all the same.
Scared and bewildered by a world that doesn't realize its own power, we are tempted to believe this powerlessness is real and forced upon us. Kindness is free to meet every morsel of existence regardless of belief, positionality or agreement. It renders all contracts, however old or deeply rooted, null and void.
Kindness is not a syrupy put-on of rainbows and back massage circles. It's not changing your personality to be more or less of something, or walking grannies across the street (although that's gorgeous) Kindness is an enjoyable and essential tool for collectively creating a New Earth.
As essential, enjoyable and clear as a smile on a dog
Another word for Kindness is Honesty. It is the total responsibility that we are called to by our own desire to see 'a place in which our children can grow free and strong.' Any excuse I have not to be kind is valid, worthy, and allowed to be. There's no power outside of Life- pointing fingers and saying- "bad human", Just look! Whatever goes on, however mad or beautiful to my mind, it has permission to exist. If we're ready to see a different world, we must choose it. We take responsibility for making it- in our every honest thought.
There's nothing left out in kindness, and it does the work for you. Every joke is funnier, every glance at every cashier is more meaningful, and every piece of hatred, neglect and abuse is turned around. Telling the truth doesn't mean that I'm beyond mistakes or I have reached some untouchable state of perfection- it means I'm willing to come face to face with every bit of neglect and fear in the world as it appears in my own mind. I start with my own thoughts, and you show me what I need to see.
Fear and death we do alone. We never do Kindness alone. Kindness is never a solo act.
Where two or more are gathered in Kind- we literally meet as one. Everything I do. I do it for you- you know its true.
Image: Kev Anderson www.kevartist.com/