Kindness

If each of us considers our own lives to be precious, and we should certainly do so, then we necessarily need to consider every human life as precious.

We have all experienced displays of acts of kindness. We know how much they can mean to us. And we should then understand what the same act should mean for others. In the very beautiful movie “Pay It Forward”, Haley Joel Osmont’s character causes members of an entire community to repay acts of kindness by paying a new act of kindness forward to someone else. We can only imagine how much better the world would be if everyone followed that example.

And while paying it forward has not caught on throughout the world, humankind is blessed with acts of kindness everyday. One can only imagine what a world without kindness would be like. Our world could survive without kindness, but it would be a far less happy and far more unpleasant world.

Discussion

• What is the most meaningful act of kindness you have received in recent years?

• How did you pay the act forward, and if you have not done so, how might you do so in the near future?