Yesterday, I sat behind a guy at church whose T-shirt contained yesterday’s quote.
Everyone you know is fighting a battle you cannot see.
Be kind.
Frequently happens to me – I get distracted by a single quote or line, and then realize I haven’t heard the rest of the message and I have to go back and listen to the whole thing again.
That almost happened yesterday. One random quote on a T-shirt, and I had to force myself to refocus on a really good sermon.
I’ve been thinking, though. Do you suppose that’s part of the reason Jesus told us to avoid judgment? He knew we can’t possibly understand the journey another person is traveling, the struggles they face, the reasons they behave as they do. So rather than guessing, he simply said, “Don’t judge.”
He went much farther than this, of course. He talked about care and compassion and forgiveness. He spent most of this time among the outcasts and the marginalized. He said those who followed him would be known by their love.
All those notions won’t fit on a T-shirt, and maybe my friend realized how hard it is to live as Jesus lived. So maybe, he thought, if we can’t do it all, there’s one thing everyone can do.
We can be kind.
I was thinking this morning about my classroom, about the one simple rule we agreed upon: EVERYONE gets treated with dignity and respect.
I’m not sure, in all the discussions that occurred, words like kindness or compassion ever appeared. I think that was a mistake.
Our culture has become more and more like middle school. Too much bullying. “Cool kids’ groups” that focus on exclusion and division rather than inclusion. Not nearly enough compassion.
Not enough kindness.