The Measure of Worth

Yesterday I attended, along with several hundred other people, the memorial service of a man whose life could have been remarkable for any number of reasons (and was), yet above everything else, he was known for a heart overflowing with kindness, spilling out in the corners of his eyes whenever he smiled, which was often. Looking out over the solemn audience before it began, I had the feeling every heart in every seat felt Noah was especially fond of them. Far above his years of hard work resulting in a sprawling dairy enterprise and generous giving of his resources to the causes on his heart, it was his reputation of kindness, of giving full focus to the person in front of him at any given time which overruled every other accomplishment. Having a person's full attention is in itself an act of kindness, an intentional act that says "you are more important than I". This is kindness.

The example of a man who's life embodied the commands written in ancient text -commands that lead to a fuller, far from duller life- will stay with me until I see him again. For every time my heart grows heavy from the hard news of this world my eyes read, for every time I am tempted to write a response to an issue on a Facebook thread or judge those who do...I want to remember it is face-to-face kindness that stems from a heart loved by God that will change the world in which I live. The act of looking out for the interests of others, for putting the neighbor, the grocery store cashier, the over-talking stranger in the center stage of my attention, will produce invisible rippling effects of the lasting sort.

The quote in the sunflower photo above is one Noah had by his bedside. He fell asleep and awoke to this reminder that what is GIVEN is far more remarkable than what is GAINED. Grateful is my heart for a life of kindness that was lived here, and is now being lived fuller where my eyes cannot see. He now resides with my grandpa, his best friend, who was also a man who lived his life in the same way. I look forward to being in both their comforting presences again...and in the meantime, I will work at cultivating the kindness found in the soil of their lives, for many hearts strengthen and grow from even just a few moments in it.