"What's the best portion of a good man's life? His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love." - William Wordsworth
November 13 is World Kindness Day.
When Wordsworth referred to unremembered acts of kindness, he did not mean that the recipient forgot them. He meant they were forgotten by the person performing them. I visited a performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus while attending a Circus Fan Association of America convention. One of the clowns recognized me and thanked me for sitting down with him at lunch at another CFA convention fifteen years earlier. He said I patiently answered all of his questions about what it was like being a circus clown. He credited my advice and encouragement with helping his dream of being a circus clown come true. He remembered that lunch, but I couldn't recall it at all.
I was on staff several years in a row for the Fellowship of Christian Magicians Northwest Creative Ministries Conference. It was my privilege and pleasure to perform in the public outreach show each year. Due to the large number of magicians in the audience I made a special effort to include some magic routines that they would find interesting and might inspire ideas of things they could do. As is often my custom, I strolled among the audience entertaining them during the preshow period. One year a group of women approached me before the show. One of them said, "You impressed me so much last year that I wanted my friends to see you this year." I quickly tried to recall the specific routines I had done the year before trying to guess which one was the most impressive. I was surprised when she explained what had impressed her. She said, "As you were coming in before the show you noticed that a little boy's shoelace was untied. You knelt down and tied his shoe for him. You treated him with so much respect."
The magic routines that I had invested so much effort in were not important. She didn't come back to see them again. She came back because of a brief act of kindness that I didn't remember performing.
I have been blessed to be the recipient of many acts of kindness and love. I remember them with gratitude. I went camping on the beach with my Boy Scout troop when I was in Junior High. An elderly couple joined us with their camper. I don't know their name or connection to our troop. They brought their own food, and cooked Tater Tots for dinner. For some reason they let me sample some of them. That was the first time that I had tasted them. I don't think they shared them with any other boys. I don't know why they choose me, but it made me feel special. To this day I am reminded of their kindness whenever I eat Tater Tots.
The reason a good man, or woman, does not remember their acts of kindness is because they do them automatically. It is part of their character. That is something that is learned through practice.
Boy Scouts of America began because of one boy's act of service. An American business man was lost in London on a foggy night. A boy volunteered to guide him to his destination. He tried to give the boy a tip for his service. The boy turned him down saying, "I can't accept it sir. I am a Scout and it is my duty to help others." The businessman was so impressed he investigated the Boy Scout organization in England and received permission to copy it in America. The boy was never identified, perhaps because he forgot doing that act of kindness. However, the result of that one act of kindness has benefited millions of boys over the past century. Every boy who joins Scouting is required to perform acts of service. It becomes a lifelong habit for the majority.
Do you automatically perform acts of kindness and love? If not, how can you begin doing it intentionally so it becomes a habit?
