The headline is one of my favorite lyrics from one of my favorite Stevie Wonder songs, ‘As.’ I’ve searched far and wide (i.e., the first page of search results on Google) for a source, and I was surprised to find it was written by Stevie. Not that I doubt his lyrical capacity—he’s no Dylan, but who is?—but I was surprised that nobody spoke those words sooner.
In theory, it’s a beautiful concept: if you are kind to someone, your act will be appreciated unconditionally. Even if it’s poor in execution or not a grand gesture, it’ll be appreciated.
In execution, it’s a flawed concept: people can take kindness and be judgmental towards it and the recipient. There’s never a guarantee that a heart with good intentions will be received that way; there are always prejudices and mitigating circumstances that mean kindness will fall on deaf ears.
I write this because I witnessed someone mock an act of kindness today. I won’t get into specifics or name names because it would be counterproductive; all I’ll say is that it came from someone I hold in very high regard. My initial action was that unique form of disappointment you get in that scenario: imagining a Grand, Dramatic Speech filled with all sorts of Meaningful and Important Things, the kind of Things that Make People Change How They Act.
But as the day went on and I thought about my reaction, I remembered another lyric: “If you want to make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change.” Though I’m not a big Michael Jackson fan, ‘Man in the Mirror’ is largely recognized as one of his better tunes.
After cooling my jets a bit, I realized an angry rant wouldn’t make sense. Nobody’s perfect, and even the most kind-hearted among us make mistakes or have lapses. I’m sure that I have been on the receiving end of kindness and reacted with hostility. Those moments were handled with forgiveness, and to fault someone when I, too, could forgive them is a poor solution in its own right.
However, I spent a lot of time working on that Grand, Dramatic Speech. And hey, there’s a chance someone, if not myself, will read it and take it to heart. So I figured that posting it couldn’t hurt…
When someone performs an act of kindness, especially a selfless act, anything short of appreciation should make you question your actions. Ridicule, especially that of the sender or the delivery, is unbecoming. In every act of kindness, no matter how small, or how plain, there’s a kernel of love. And you can’t defeat love, clichéd as that is. You can put people or their actions down, and it may work in a moment, but you’ll end up on the wrong side of the situation. Kindness knows no shame, and it takes a genuine fool to act otherwise.
Brain Nourishment 