Fortune Cookie Friday: Kindness Over Complaining
Oh, the woes of life! We all have them, and we all complain about them. For example, we complain that we don’t have enough money, that we are too over-weight, or that we don’t like how someone treats us. It is easy to be dissatisfied and then gritch about it. Unfortunately, that is all we seem to do these days.
When life deals a bad hand, wallowing in self-pity or victimization won’t solve the problem. We need to do something to change our circumstances. That something is to show kindness.
Today’s fortune was first used in W. L. Watkinson’s sermon “The Invincible Strategy’ collected in 1907 in The Supreme Conquest. He said, “Evil is not overcome by denunciation…Real, constructive, aggressive good is of far greater significance than eloquent invective.”
It is incredibly easy to say how much we dislike something, compared to fixing it or doing good. When someone offends us, we rush to denounce that person when what we should be doing is turning the other cheek.
If we want to have a better life, we need to do good works and be a better example of a virtuous person rather than cursing those around us. There will always be dissatisfactions in our lives, and we need to become the impetus of righteousness because our actions are contagious.
Imagine sitting in traffic, and someone cuts us off. We have a choice of actions, honk the horn, yell at the other driver, or worse, try to get even with them. We don’t know the circumstances in the life of the other driver, but we feel wronged by what they did to us. If we let those evil feelings spill out, they can affect those around us. This only brings more darkness into the world. It spreads like a virulent disease.
Now imagine that same scenario, but this time we look for opportunities to help others by letting someone in ahead of us. That person will likely be grateful for what we have done, and they will do the same thing for someone else. I will admit; it’s not a perfect system. The other driver may not perform the same gesture of kindness, but it is far better to represent kindness than intolerance.
Kindness is like an antibiotic to the sickness of evil. It may take a little while for us to feel better, but it will eventually cure us. Also like an antibiotic, we need to use it as directed. We need to keep using it until the illness is gone. With evil, that requires us to use it our whole lives, not just when the symptoms flare up.
We need a little kindness and less complaining when someone is a bit rude, or when they commit an egregious sin. Problems will arise throughout our lives, but complaining won’t solve them. Kindness can shine just enough light to keep the darkness of evil at bay.
