Last week, I was pulling into the Sapulpa Post Office parking lot as they were opening up for the day. My radio was tuned to Christian station 95.1, and the radio host asked, “Is our American culture experiencing a decline in civility? Instead of being kind, gracious, and warm, do we see a growing number of people being rude, selfish, and cold?” I then shut off my engine, opened my car door, and headed toward the Post Office entrance. I was about 20 feet away from the door as another man was entering the Post Office. I was a good-enough distance away that, had the man gone on in without holding the door for me, it would not have been considered rude at all. If, on the other hand, he was to hold the door for me, it would have required him to wait several seconds for me to get there. I was pleasantly surprised to see the man stop, hold the door, and wait for me to arrive at the entrance as I thanked him for his kind gesture.
At that point, I was not thinking about the words of the radio host, but as I stood in line behind this gentleman, I chuckled to myself when I realized the timing of this, admittedly, routine event. It was almost as though this man knew what I had just heard seconds earlier on the radio and he positioned himself in such a way as to say, “No, civility is not dead.”
Ok, Ok, I know that this was just one kind deed –a small one at that, to be sure – and one individual’s small act of kindness does not necessarily mean that the country, as a whole, is getting nicer. Even so, it was good to be reminded that even this basic form of thoughtfulness hasn’t been entirely abandoned.
It really shouldn’t be all that difficult to be nice. Jesus gave us the Golden Rule, which basically instructs us to treat other people the way that we want to be treated. If you put this principle to work in your life, what a tremendous difference it would make! It would impact how you treat your spouse, your children, your parents, your siblings, your friends, your co-workers…everybody. It would even change the way you drive! You would be more courteous and understanding of others. You would be more polite. You wouldn’t get offended so easily because you would be more understanding and gracious. Being self-centered and mean creates so much pent-up emotions that it will probably send you to an early grave – not to mention the misery it will cause you in the meantime. So choose to be kind. You will be happier, more Christlike, and others won’t turn the other way when they see you coming.
Author Herbert V. Prochnow wrote, “You may be sorry that you spoke, sorry you stayed or went, sorry you won or lost, sorry you thought the worst, sorry so much was spent. But as you go through life, you’ll find – you’re never sorry you were kind.”
Pastor William Wimmer
