want to Be Kind? Get close to the leper. Or how about you just say "hello?" I fear this co

I walked by a bunch of students, who were creating a "BE KIND" tile design on the outside of the High School. It is a big thing here in Newtown...to Be Kind. Or at least to say it, or wear it, or plaster it on the side of the school.

I watched a few of the same girls not say hello to a new girl who walked into the room. They sat in their huddle of comfort while she stood off to the side completely alone, awkward and isolated.

I watched a mother walk right by me...make eye contact...but then turn away, without saying hello, only to plop down next to someone she knew, someone familiar.

And so I have to wonder...what do we think Be Kind actually means?

Marching?

Protesting?

Holding signs, making murals, slapping a bumper sticker on your car then speeding away?

This is why...while I am all for being kind...BE KIND will never be enough.

I was struck by a single word I came upon in Scripture today.

2 Peter 3: 17-18

"Therefore, Beloved, since you are forewarned, be on your guard not to be led into the error of the unprincipled and to fall from your own stability. But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ."

And yesterday:

2 Peter 1:2

"May grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord."

KNOWLEDGE.

Specifically of Jesus, our Lord.

Without this, how can we grow in grace?

Without this, how can we have peace?

Which leads me to believe, that without any of this, how on earth can we truly be kind?

And I get it.

I am not accusing these girls or that mother of being unkind people, or not believing in the importance of kindness. Truth is, I am often not kind, myself. Just ask my husband. And if we were really to sit down and unpack this, I think as women we might even discover that the person we are most often unkind to is ourselves.

But good grief, why is kindness so hard? My theory?

Because people are hard.

And annoying.

And slow.

And boring.

And tedious.

And not like us.

And weird.

And unlikable.

And frustrating.

And sometimes just in the way.

And they don't always believe what we believe.

Or like what we like.

Or eat what we eat.

And sometimes they smell.

Or chew loudly.

Or snore.

Or leave wet towels on the floor.

Or cut in front of us in the grocery line.

Or try too hard.

Or breathe.

And these are the people we live with!

And yet...if we know God...if we have true knowledge of Him...we understand that despite all of this... we are called to love them anyway.

To get close to the leper.

To eat with the tax collector.

To give drink to the prostitute.

Surely, if Jesus can recline at the home of a leper, we can muster up the ability to say hello to the new girl who walks into the room.

We can not be kind if we do not understand why we ought to be kind.

We are too sinful, and people are too difficult, for us to rely on a tile mosaic message, no matter how beautiful it might be.

Real kindness means digging down deep into the wells of your inner self, beyond the selfishness, past the pride, and beneath your comfort zone; it means breaking the alabaster jar and pouring it all out and putting down the posters you march with and using those same hands that you form into fists and demand this and that, to actually hold the stranger and show them compassion - and you need not go far because I will bet you a million dollars, which I do not have, that she or he is standing right in front of you. Can it be we are just too busy saying BE KIND to notice the person dying in front of us?

My kids hate when I boil all things down to Jesus, but they need to get over it...and maybe when I am dead and buried it will all make sense and well, I am getting old and so that works for me. Because seriously, people, it is the truth. And because I am getting old I really don't want to waste my time by settling for watered down faith and false truths. Go ahead and be spiritual, go ahead and offer it all up to the universe...just do me a favor. While hugging trees and saving the world, take a moment to get to know Jesus in the process. The One who made the trees and already saved the world. Because we need to have knowledge of Him if we want to survive and live well...and we can do this. We can easily do this through reading Scripture...and you do not have to sit down and read the entire Bible - you only need to pick one verse and let it roll around your mind for a while until it settles in and takes root. Until it blooms in your mind and your heart and suddenly the things you look at everyday are now brighter, more alive, a noticed gift.

Because I know you want to be kind.

I want to be kind, too.

But we are human. And humans get hungry, and tired and more often than not we are dangling at the ends of our self-made rope.

And so we need more than kindness.

We need a savior.

And we need to get to know Him.

And when we do?

Grace and peace will be ours in abundance.

And I'll bet kindness, too.