Many of us must have read Micah
6:8 many times where it reads “He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what
does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to
walk humbly with your God?” In
reflection I am reminded of a beautiful story told by somebody which can be
taken as a real incident which might happen anywhere in India
An old man, stooped over and
leaning on a battered cane, was moving along the sidewalk of a street. Strings of scarecrow-like hair poked out from
under a battered ballcap that he wore at an odd angle. The cap seemed to be a prized possession
because he kept clutching at it each time the autumn breeze tried to snatch it
away. His face was pinched into a permanent grimace. Each step took great
effort, as though his joints were in dire need of lubrication, but there was
something in his pain-racked shuffle that summoned attention.
In the cluster of office-workers
scurrying to and from lunchtime appointments, he stood out. No one actually
stopped to speak to him or even paused to give him a smile, but everyone took
note of him. The brisk breeze swirling
eddies of dust along the avenue suddenly gusted, catching the peak of the old
man’s ballcap. It took off like a kite. His mouth wrenched open as his free
hand clawed up to grab it, but his arthritic bones could not move fast enough.
In his frantic and jerky effort, he almost lost his footing, but then latched
onto the cane with both hands to steady his balance. While he watched the wind do its thing, his
eyes echoed a sorrow that emanated from deep inside a canyon of memory. The cap
rode a strong current for twenty feet or so, and then came tumbling down in the
street to join an assortment of discarded fast-food wrappers and other bits of
garbage being swept along the edge of the curb. He went after it in his hunched
over stutter-stepping kind of way, but it distanced itself from him in rapidly
increasing increments.
A forlorn cry escaped his throat
as he tried to hurry. In his haste he
began bumping into people, muttering apologies as he stayed focused on the
direction the wind was taking his treasure.
People continued to notice him, but it was as though his distress was
invisible. Despite the old man’s
thrashing progress through the crowd, everyone managed to keep pace with his or
her deadlines and schedules. After
several blocks of frenzied pursuit, his chest was heaving and beginning to
hurt. Little threads of pain were
tightening into a thick, hard knot just behind his breastbone. His breath was coming in short gasps; his
hair was matted with sweat. He teetered
to a faltering stop. He realized there
was no chance of recapturing the ballcap.
A rasping wheeze of a groan
choked out of him as his body sagged in defeat.
His shoulders sank even lower than before. Tears glistened on his weathered cheeks as he
looked into the faces of passing strangers, silently pleading and motioning for
help. No one came to his assistance; not
a single, solitary person reached out with compassion or kindness. Even though surrounded by many, many
eyewitnesses he was utterly alone in his predicament. Whatever affection or remembrance he had
attached to that ragged ballcap became a deep sense of loss that the old man
would be left to grieve over all by himself.
Were there any Christians on the
sidewalk that watched the drama unfold without being moved to action? Were they
all too busy, too self-absorbed and too preoccupied? Had they perfected the art
of pretending not to see? If the answer
to any of those questions is yes, that is tragic. Too often kindness is a sparse commodity in
our communities and neighborhoods, but for those who follow Christ, routine
kindness should be automatic. I wonder why that is not always the case?
The basic question we need to ask as a Church is what are we
up to in our mission of justice and peace if we are not kind to each other? In
our quest for holiness, have we, as a Church, lost sight of the fundamental
basics of kindness? Have we become so enthralled by our programs or so consumed
by worship wars that we’ve forgotten the profound urgency of kindness? In our
desire to be culturally relevant have we forgotten the simple power of loving
mercy? Indeed, kindness is profoundly
simple and simply profound. Scripture compels us to be actively involved in
ongoing adventures of kindness. In our
context of justice and peace, a fair rendering of the concept of mercy or
kindness is for us to be vigilant in following through on our commitment to be
nice people who care for others. Jesus modeled this teaching in his life by
meeting people at their exact point of need and ministered to them. We are to
do likewise so that we can become the first-responders to the ordinary pain of
the human condition as intended by God.
