A Little Child Teaches a Big Lesson

This morning I received an email message from a friend. It was not a "newsy" message filled with personal information and friendly chat. But, it was very helpful none-the-less. It showed me something which I needed to remember -- kindness always negates negativity.

The email described a young boy at a restaurant having dinner with his mom. He asked if he could say the blessing, and Mom agreed. When the boy added to his prayer the comment that he would thank God even more if his mother bought ice cream after dinner, a fellow diner commented that the request on the boy's part for ice cream, was totally inappropriate. The boy heard the comment and was very upset. He asked his mom if God was mad at him.

A kind gentlemen overheard his question to his mother and came over to the boy to say that he thought the boy's prayer was wonderful. He said that he knew God thought so too. He added that "sometimes ice cream is good for the soul."

The mother ordered ice cream for the boy at the end of the meal. The child did not dive into the Sundae, instead -- he took it to the women who had made the comment about it being totally in appropriate -- placed the sundae before her, and said "Sometimes ice cream is good for the soul. My soul is good already, so I thought you might like this."

It made me think. Would I or could I be gracious to someone who had been unkind to me? If someone said something unkind, could I return a kind word instead? Isn't this what we are supposed to do?

The young boy reminded me that goodness and kindness are always the best antidote to unkindness and evil. In the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy wrote "Clad in the panoply of Love, human hatred cannot reach you." To me this means that if we can keep our thoughts on the goodness of God, no unkindness can enter our thinking, since it is already filled with God.

Then -- I thought about some actions I took recently. I realized that I had not been as kind to my husband as I could have been. I had not spoken to a friend in a loving way, nor had I given help to someone obviously in need. How could I then claim to be a practicing Christian?

Thanks to the email, I will be reminded more often to return kindness, understanding, and compassion no matter what comes my way. It is not always easy to do this, but it is possible with God's help.

What can we all do each day to make the life of someone we know better?

These are just some thoughts for today.