Sunday Story…Kindness

I suspect most of my conservative friends think I’m liberal, and most of my liberal friends think I’m conservative. The fact is simple…I am neither…and I am both.

Let me tell you where I stand, because it's really simple. I will paraphrase a quote from the Dalai Lama: "My religion is simple, it is kindness." This is where I stand: On Kindness.

Here’s a quick test: if you must ask yourself whether what you are doing is kind, or whether what someone else is doing is kind, 9 out of 10 times (and probably 10 out of 10), it is not kind. Just the fact that you need to ask belies the fact.

I remember sitting in a room with Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, the founder of Non-Violent Communication, as he told the story of a session with a twice-convicted pedophile. Now, for most of us (me included), we would have a hard time finding compassion or empathy for someone who committed such heinous acts against any human, let alone a child. And Dr. Rosenberg admitted he had a really hard time finding any empathy for that individual.

He forced himself to sit and listen to the man's story without judgment. And he managed to discover empathy for what the man had gone through and the pain he subsequently forced on his victims. This didn’t excuse his actions, it didn’t exonerate him of his crimes, or even mitigate his actions. But by simply listening and showing empathy and kindness, he managed to shift his own judgment and treat another human with some measure of dignity.

Now, Dr. Rosenberg practiced nonjudgment and kindness for decades before he could dig so deeply into his own prejudices and judgments. I am not sure I am big enough to do that. But what I do know is that kindness will lead me to finding equanimity and harmony in my own life.

Every human, even the worst of us, deserves kindness. Every human, even the saintliest, deserves kindness. Every human, every time…Kindness.

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John Mariotti

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

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