Most of us took the time to vote this past Tuesday, and it was so inspiring to see so many friends, neighbors, and strangers doing their Constitutional duty together, regardless of who they voted for. I vote at the synagogue down the road, and it was really busy, but well organized. A woman at least 10 years older than me was shepherding her mom along; she was at least 90. The mom was having difficulty walking, so her daughter carefully had her sit on a bench near the front door. I could see the struggle this would bring about, so I went to the good people of the synagogue who were selling the leftovers from their Jewish Festival (held two days earlier) and asked for a chair. I figured that the two could move the chair as the line moved, and the mom would be more comfortable being with her daughter. It seemed like a good plan.
Then, a man in front of them offered to help carry the chair. One of the people selling their amazing food (who is the religious educator at the synagogue) took the chair into the voting area so the mom could wait. Then a person in line offered to let both of them go in front of her – to which everyone behind her agreed – so the wait would be less. One very simple act of getting a chair created a ripple effect of compassion on a day of great stress and concern. Nobody did anything heroic – nobody save a life or cured a disease – just a bunch of people who saw a need and decided to be compassionate rather than selfish. And from the smiles on our faces, you could tell that the whole thing made everyone there happy.
It doesn’t take much to make the world better. We can – and probably do – sit around and complain about people making terrible decisions that might or might not have an impact on us. We can yell at the person driving recklessly and take it out on the people behind us. We can shout at the top of our lungs that the world is going to H-E-double hockey sticks in a handbasket. Or we can do random acts of kindness and show a little compassion to strangers. We can hold a door or let someone with one item go in front of us at the store. We can sit next to a visitor at our faith community’s worship service or call someone we haven’t seen in a while. Small acts that can snowball into a storm of kindness and consideration. Empathy is under attack, but that doesn’t mean we have to allow the attack to succeed. A little compassion goes a long way, and while it costs us nothing, and can mean everything to the person who receives it.
Prayer – Holy God, may our lives be focused on goodness rather than vindictiveness. Amen.
Today’s art is “Goodness” by Kaye Redman.