Musings: Kindness

Regardless of how you understand this season whether from background or faith, kindness has a way of infiltrating our moods by way of reminding us how lucky we are to be alive, and to be able to share this distinct and remarkable joy with others.

There is really nothing more contagious than being in the presence of unabashed kindness, and the emerging delight of the coming weeks certainly sets the stage.

Yes, the days ahead are short and the nights long, and as we head into winter many of us are still somewhat off-kilter in the still uneasy wake of the pandemic. And many more of us are uncertain about the future, a condition that has risen up before and will as surely arise and dissipate again; but when we’re smack in the middle of it, things can seem bleak.

It is here then that just maybe simple kindness can move fully to the fore. It is the gift that always gives both ways.

It’s bitterly cold again today, and here the late fall caution about bears has given way to the annual hanging of the feeders. Within minutes birds of all shapes and sizes appear and share, rather peacefully, in the abundance we offer from now till spring. Watching them all get along makes us smile even as our care and kindness towards them manifests and multiplies out there deep in the forest. By winter’s end, more and more birds will come, and the feeders will need filling every day. It is but a small kindness that both sustains our avian friends and gives us in return the glow of simple connection with our natural world. A circle of giving, realized.

We are in the midst of a prolonged news cycle, and political cycle, that isn’t good for anyone. Regardless of your understanding of the world around us, being perpetually angry at one another is never healthy and has never turned out well. It has long been understood that the emotions of anger and fear are closely related, and recent experience from the pandemic has added isolation and loneliness to the kindling of anger. And with so much rage being directed at those you don’t agree with, divisiveness has been taken to new and unprecedented levels. And the relative anonymity of the internet has enabled strangers to attack strangers without warning or consequence. In the moment, these seem to be dark times, indeed.

Differences among people and thoughts have always been there, and are actually a crucial part of the free and open society. How boring it would be to live in a world of sameness. But when backed by hatred, meanness or violence something important about humanity is lost. In fact, the alternative meaning for humanity is humaneness and benevolence. Being human, by definition calls for kindness pure and simple. Wouldn’t it just be better to be nice than to be mean?

A cornerstone of every faith is a variation on the Golden Rule. To treat others as you would like to be treated. A lasting byproduct of this philosophy is that this almost always results in a higher, better result for all involved. Imagine the upcoming season of celebrations filled with outstretched hands instead of raised fists. What a wonderful season, then, it would be.

Tim Scott lives in Jackson.