A Random Act of Kindness
Nikolai Berdyaev was a Russian thinker and existentialist. He once said, "The question of my bread is a material question but the question of my neighbor's bread is a spiritual question." This is kindness in a nutshell. Compassion may just be limited to a feeling, it is a form of empathy, a sort of acceptance but kindness is compassion accompanied with a gesture of giving.
There was a rich man once who mocked and scoffed the beggars. Anytime any beggar approached him for alms, he would chastise and cuss them saying that they had fit bodies, they were well-built, they were young and that they ought to work and not beg. This went on for a while until one day when God appeared and said, "Listen up, you. If you don't have the heart to give, that's fine but at least don't condemn what I gave them."
This is another way of being kind, it's not the best, but it's second best, that is, don't be unkind. If you can't or don't want to give for any reason whatsoever, that may just be fine but at least don't stop others or pollute your own mind and speech by being negative about it. A random act of kindness needn't always be a material offering. Even a word of encouragement, a compliment, a helping-hand could be equally, if not more, profound.
Om Namah Shivay
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