“The
gentlest of men” was the concluding phrase in the obituary yesterday describing
my daughter Bonnie’s father-in-law. He was, indeed, a gentle soul before
Ley Body robbed him of cognitive and motor abilities. Interestingly,
meeting Bonnie’s husband the first time, I was struck by his gentle and kind
manner. Since then, I have commented more than once that “kindness is a
highly underrated virtue.”
In the rush to business and consumerism of much of today’s world, often it is
the important but simple kindnesses we fail to do: visit a shut-in, write a
note of appreciation, purchase a useful gift card for someone in need, go to a
new neighbor’s door with cookies or just a friendly welcome, or offer help to
someone about to move. The list could go on and on. Even simple
hospitality, an invitation for dinner or desert in your home, does not have the
priority in our lives it used to or should have.
This observation is certainly not uniquely mine. Often in a confession
during a Christian service, we are to ask forgiveness for what we fail to do,
“things left undone” might be the phrasing in one liturgy. It was Jesus
who presented the familiar parable, “The Good Samaritan,” to illustrate who the
neighbors are we are supposed to love when He gave the two great commandments
to love God and our neighbor. The sinners in the story are the religious
people who walked right by a wounded Samaritan who had been beaten and robbed,
now lying in their path. Many Jews during Bible times looked down on the
Samaritans as not true Jews.
The traveler who Jesus praised, who did the right things, stopped and
ministered to the man’s injuries and took the man to an Inn to receive more
care that he would pay for. His destination, the cultural attitude toward
Samaritans, his more selfish use of time and resources didn’t override the
important issue: a person in his path urgently needed care. Imagine.
Demonstrated gentleness and kindness are such simple things and can cost us far
less time and money than what the kind man in the parable did. For
example, a friend of my daughter’s brought over a very nice breakfast casserole
for them to eat during this difficult time of loss. While visiting the
church I grew up in years ago, the husband of the Christian education director
approached me and thanked me for just a few words on a sympathy card that
described some remembrances I had of his wife during my early Sunday school
days; I was so surprised.
Yes, there is one less gentle soul among us, but I see his son, my son-in-law,
continue as one kind and gentle man still among us. On purpose, may we
seek to frequently take some time to act with kindness and gentleness to those
in our paths.
