Kindness

Ella W. Hoag

Most men love kindness. Simply to voice the word brings a wonderful vision of heavenly qualities. No one can consider kindness for a moment without having his heart grow warmer, since immediately there pass before him such Christly characteristics as gentleness, benignity, forbearance, tenderness, grace. Goethe has said of it, "Kindness is the golden chain by which society is bound together;" and in "The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany" (p. 295) our beloved Leader, Mrs. Eddy, has written, "Kindness in its largest, profoundest sense is goodness." It is a quality so much spoken of and so highly extolled that one might think nothing would be so universally expressed; and still, how much may yet be learned of its beauty and practical value!

When God is referred to in Jeremiah as saying, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee," we find God Himself placing His approval on all that is truly kind, since He there presents it as one of His own attributes. Indeed, it would be quite impossible to believe in God as good could we not couple every thought of Him with the assurance of His kindness. To believe Him to be Love inevitably includes every concept of this quality. And how could mortals ever hope for salvation, could they not feel that the very essence of God's nature is to be kind?

Now while men generally love to think of God as kind, and while they are glad to find this beautiful quality appearing in their fellow-men, they are not always so appreciative of its desirability as to have it visible in their own feelings and actions. It is astonishing that so many arguments may be found to deceive men into believing that they do not care to be kind; that kindness does not mean strength, but rather weakness. Some of such arguments even go so far as to suggest that kindness is not always a virtue, but that it may even sometimes be harmful in its effect. And yet how earnestly do prophets and apostles enjoin the necessity of him who would be Christian embracing this quality in his character!

In one of his epistles Paul says definitely, "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you;" and at another time he urges his hearers to "be kindly affectioned one to another." When Mrs. Eddy, in speaking of Jesus, wrote in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 54), "Out of the amplitude of his pure affection, he defined Love," she plainly showed that without kindness the image and likeness of God could never appear; for is not kindness the very primal activity of pure affection?

To the Christian Scientist this presentation of kindness as a divine necessity brings great hope. Often in his endeavor to prove himself the child of God,—the likeness of divine Love,—he is appalled by his apparent distance from such exalted, perfect attainment. With the uncovering of the claims of evil in his own thinking and living, especially in his attitude towards his fellow-men, he is frequently sorely tempted to be overwhelmed with discouragement. Then there comes the gentle reminder, "Be ye kind." Ah! here is something possible of present fulfillment! Here is a way to begin to express that goodness with which he so desires to prove his own unity!

And after all, how simple a thing it is,—just to be kind! To be always ready to help a brother in any small or large need; to give the smile of appreciation, the word of encouragement, the charitable overlooking of mistake, the gentle assurance of sympathy in perplexity. And how close we feel to God, when we have thus reflected His loving-kindness! The Christian Scientist knows that this mental attitude will keep him so awake to good that the temptations of error will not be able to thwart his purpose to express only goodness. He will also be protected from being unkind,—that most pitiable of evils.

Who of us has not felt grateful for our Leader's gentle warning, as well as for her precious promise, found on page 6 of her Poems:—

"The arrow that doth wound the dove
Darts not from those who watch and love."

Were all those who to-day call themselves Christian Scientists awake to the full meaning of these two wonderful lines, there would be such marvelous kindness expressed that the earth would soon be filled with "the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Let us, then, all watch, work, and pray for such wakefulness!

Ella W. Hoag

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Admission to Membership in The Mother Church

April 12, 1924

Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit