Being Kind

Doing Kindness

Galatians 6:9-10

            Albert Einstein said, “The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth.”

            Most of us (if not all) would agree with Einstein that these three ideals lead to a better path through life.  Keeping them before us like beacons will make us more agreeable, and therefore make our relationships with others more agreeable.  That will lead to a more cheerful outlook.

            Two of these ideals are under our control.  We may not always be able to make life beautiful, but we can always be kind and always be truthful.  It’s difficult if not impossible to always tell the truth, and to always be kind, but the more truthful and more kind we are the more enjoyable life will be, for us and for those we associate with. 

Einstein hit on a way to ensure a cheerful life.  We don’t often think of him as a person.  We’ve made his scientific genius so much the central part of who he is for us that we forget he was also a musician (violinist) and someone who enjoyed interacting with people.  When we consider him in this light, we can appreciate even more his commitment to kindness, beauty and truth.

Paul realized how difficult it could be to always be kind.  Perhaps part of his understanding came from the time he spent reviling Jesus Christ and persecuting his followers.  It took Paul a while to learn kindness (not truthfulness; Paul was always truthful, even though he wasn’t always diplomatic about expressing what he believed was true).  What made him become more kind, I believe, was God’s love at work within him.  When he realized how much God loved him he became able to love others.

            This love of God and others, as I return to so often, was the bedrock of Jewish belief.  When asked about the greatest commandment Jesus said that we are to love God and love our neighbor.  In fact, the only way we can demonstrate our love of God is to love those around us.  This theme runs through the New Testament.  If you read John’s first letter to the churches you will understand.

            But I digress. 

            As he neared the end of his letter to the Galatians, Paul addressed the difficulty in always being kind.  He exhorted his readers with these words: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

            The problem with this statement, as I see it, is the second half.  It sounds as if Paul is encouraging the Galatians to be good for what they can get out of it.  “Do good and you will be rewarded.”  Paul was referring to the eternal reward we have been promised for not giving up.  I’m always suspicious of this motivation.  I believe goodness is its own reward.  That’s the feeling I get from Einstein’s statement:  be kind because it’s the right thing to do. 

            Perhaps that’s what Paul meant.  I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.  One thing is certain:  we have an obligation to do good if only as a way of proving that we love God by loving those around us.  Voltaire may have had this in mind when he said, “Every [one] is guilty of all the good he[she] didn’t do.”  This is Einstein’s statement in reverse.  As being kind will give us a more cheerful life, both in our outlook and by the way others will treat us, so not doing good will pile up a load of guilt that we will have to carry with us.

            Paul understood this as well, writing in v. 7 of this chapter, “whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”  In the end, we will earn the reward for which we’ve worked.