Monday, March 26, 2012

Show Kindness To Everyone

“So now I am giving you a new commandment Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” -- John 13:34-35

He was back again this year. I wasn’t surprised. He’s there every year. Alone. He stops by my art booth, then moves on when I get busy. Then he comes back.

His presence upsets some people. Another vendor warned me against him. He’s different, I know. And not someone I would really ever want to be alone with. I’m not sure why. Maybe it is that difference that unsettles me.

A friend told me the man was brilliant but something happened years ago. He had a nervous breakdown. He’s never been quite the same. And that makes everyone uneasy.

A couple of years ago he told me he was lonely. Not in a come on kind of way. Just in conversation. I don’t think he has many, if any, friends. Just his parents and the people he sees when he’s walking or venturing out. That is sad. He yearns for that connection and yet can’t seem to find it.

Different is not popular in our culture. We want cookie-cutter people to live cookie-cutter lives. When someone doesn’t fit in, well, that just upsets everything and we turn away. It’s easier.

Please don’t misunderstand what I’m saying here. Never, ever put yourself in a dangerous situation or trust a stranger. But being kind, well, that’s different. We should always be kind. Compassionate. Treat people as Jesus would.

It is easier to ostracize those we don’t understand. To ignore them. Like refusing to meet the eyes of someone who is homeless, someone in recovery, someone unemployed. They make us uncomfortable so we reject them. And call ourselves Christians just the same.

But Jesus tells us that others will know that we are His disciples by the love we show to others. Jesus didn’t qualify that. He didn’t tell us to only love the people “like” us or the people we want to love. Jesus told us to love each other. Do you really think Jesus meant only the people we want to love, the people who are easy to love, the people who are part of our group?

I likely will never know this man’s story. I don’t feel comfortable, safe, venturing into a friendship with him. But he is someone Jesus loves. Showing this man kindness is an easy way to let him know that Jesus cares and sees him where he is.