A few weeks ago a word bombarded me, wrapped in melody, through my car stereo. One week. Three different songs. Three different artists. One word - Kindness.
It all started in Glenarm. Well, a singer from Glenarm anyway. The Antrim east coast’s most successful singer Ben Glover has a song on his brilliant new record Shorebound called Kindness - it goes:
“May you know kindness
May kindness know you”
It is beautiful, like a prayer.
Then I turned south, down the coast. The new Frank Turner album features 4 co-writes with Bangor’s Grammy nominated Iain Archer. Though Iain was not involved in the title track, that song is called Be More Kind!
“In a world that has decided
That it's going to lose its mind
Be more kind, my friends, try to be more kind”
Staying with Iain Archer, an actual co-write of his, released the same week, by the band Peace, Kindness is The New Rock N Roll. With a rock strut they sing:
“Kindness is new rock and roll
Kindness is the climax of the soul
It's all full of love bursting from the seams
So lets make kindness the new rock and roll”
Kindness!? Off I ran to search for the meaning of kindness. There it is in the fruit of the Holy Spirit as the apostle Paul lists them… “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” How does kindness stand out I asked?
I settled for a quote by a Bible scholar who wrote, “It is the grace which pervades the whole nature, mellowing all which would be harsh and austere.” Oh yeh, more of that I thought.
So, it is the posture in our inner souls that changes all our relationships towards love. Like God, sending Jesus to save the world. Out of the posture of his deep rooted kindness, God loved us enough to act towards us in a way that would heal our brokenness.
Kindness! And then would you believe it. This week. Another song. Ray LaMontagne sings:
“When kindness is the greatest gift that one can share
Why choose hate to subjugate your fellow man?”
Sing it guys. Preach it. Amen!
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