RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS AND
SENSELESS ACTS OF BEAUTY

Anne Herbert is an American writer and a past assistant editor of CoEvolution Quarterly, a precursor to the Whole Earth Review. She is perhaps best known for being the person who coined the phrase, "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty." A random act of kindness is a purportedly selfless act performed by someone to either help or cheer up a stranger, for no reason other than to make people happier. Either spontaneous or planned in advance, RAoKs are encouraged by various communities.

The second week of February is Random Act of Kindness week.

This inspirational phrase was quickly absorbed by people hungry for evidence of purity and goodness and spread throughout the planet in every nation. People longing for meaning in their lives put into practice these acts of kindness. Who knows when our individual actions, or perhaps something we are overheard saying in an elevator, can inspire the world. Never underestimate your individual part in changing the world. Always be counscious and aware of your value.

At a soul level, in the world of spirit, every act and every word sends its own ripple in the atmosphere and affects the harmony of our world. When we choose to act in kindness the effect is profound. When we express kindness we are validating the existence of another soul. We are saying, "You matter!"   We are saying through our expression of kindness, "I see you; I truly see you as a child of God and you are worth caring about."

Too often the cloak of invisibility surrounds the human need for validation. We may not know the inner turmoil in which a stranger dwells but to express a kindness lifts them out of that dwelling place into a lighter, higher place that sweeps away the shadow of pain.

On a vacation trip in another city, my wife and I were eating in a chain restaurant and we noticed an elderly pair of ladies reacting in great concern over the total of their check and rummaging through their purses and pockets in dismay as they were trying to find enough for their bill.   We told our waitress to tell them that their dinner had been comped and we would pay the bill but please don't let them know it was us.   Great relief appeared on their faces and they expressed gratitude.   We expressed our glee with each other over this opportunity to feel joy.   But you know what - the waitress wept.     You just don't know who you touch or for what reason they may respond, but you do affect the harmony of the planet.

It goes further than just a simple feel good when you perform an act of kindness or a senseless act of beauty.   You become an instrument of God when you extend yourself in this manner. You are in effect saying to God," I am here for you to use."   I remember reading about a woman who began planting daffodils on a hill on her property.   Over decades she divided clumps and replanted over and over until this hill was covered and every spring the glorious sight was as though God kissed the earth.   She in this act of beauty became the instrument of God.

Singer Bobby Belfry, in his beautiful song, "Ear of the World" sings that "If you have the ear of the world, say something beautiful."   (bobbybelfry.com)   every day you encounter an opportunity to say something beautiful or do something beautiful. I urge you to participate in the healing that this movement elicits from the performer and receiver of Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty.

Rev. Glenn Moore