World Kindness Day

Dear Reader:

It is rather ironic that today is not only World Kindness Day...but also a Friday the 13th day.

Since starting this blog (a decade ago) and doing all kinds of stories on a Friday the 13th month… year after year…we have grown pretty accustomed to this day with all its superstitions, dark legends, myths, and fallacies.

Yet kindness…stories about kindness never grow old or tedious from the beginning of history on….

The first universal act of kindness in scripture…after the creation of this world in which we live…is God’s act of kindness providing man and woman a home in it…and not just any home…but a home with a garden that is more beautiful than the mind can imagine and our needs met more bountifully than we could possibly fathom.

We’ve all heard the story and we know it doesn’t end well…yet kindness still exists in this world because the irony of the Garden of Eden message is God is already part of whom we are inside each of us …because nothing exists outside of God…the world, the universe… God, you, and me…we are all one and the same.

The world is God’s self-expression. It is God’s essence realized and experienced. Since gathering enough courage to start this blog post ten years ago…I completely understand these concepts.

What wakes me each morning is the idea that I get to discover new ideas and thoughts every single day…the blog has become my self-expression, my passion…my world, my universe…my special time with God.

Another new epiphany hit me this World Kindness Day….

The root word “kin” from kindness challenges us to see others as our own kin. This brings us full circle with Christ’s most powerful commandment:

John 13:34-35

³⁴I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

I believe this is what World Kindness Day should be about…loving each other as God loves us.

So until tomorrow…

“A simple act of kindness can have the power to build trust, keep someone’s faith, or build a deeper connection. On World Kindness Day today, let’s try to reach out to someone who may need our help.”

“Today is my favorite day” Winnie the Pooh

If nothing else today…give someone a precious gift…a smile.

About Becky Dingle

I was born a Tarheel but ended up a Sandlapper. My grandparents were cotton farmers in Laurens, South Carolina and it was in my grandmother’s house that my love of storytelling began beside an old Franklin stove. When I graduated from Laurens High School, I attended Erskine College (Due West of what?) and would later get my Masters Degree in Education/Social Studies from Charleston Southern. I am presently an adjunct professor/clinical supervisor at CSU and have also taught at the College of Charleston. For 28 years I taught Social Studies through storytelling. My philosophy matched Rudyard Kipling’s quote: “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Today I still spread this message through workshops and presentations throughout the state. The secret of success in teaching social studies is always in the story. I want to keep learning and being surprised by life…it is the greatest teacher. Like Kermit said, “When you’re green you grow, when you’re ripe you rot.”

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