What The World Needs Now Is Love
A popular song from the 1960s that touched my heart was “What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love. That’s the only thing that there’s just too little of.” It seems even more relevant today than ever.
I heard a rerecorded version of this song recently and it reminded me that two of the sweetest gifts of Spirit are “Love as expressed through every day Kindness. In fact, the Dalai Lama put it on the top of his list when he said “Kindness is my Religion.” Let’s claim the sweet love, that is our essence to express the joy of loving-kindness in all areas of our lives.
We just celebrated Valentine’s Day – a day that is a reminder of the central importance of love.And Love is what the World needs now! Love is the most powerful force in the universe. One Presence and One Power that creates universes, yet knows our names, our essence. We have our being inside that power, not outside of it. Recognition of this power is what that World needs now! Being the Presence of Love!
Today I want to return to the theme that I have been pursuing in my talks last year that of the Gifts of the Spirit. They are “joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness.” (Galatians 5:22) I started with Love and Joy” and today I want to focus on Loving Kindness, and its partner generosity, which are the building blocks or aspects of Love. These qualities or gifts are love in everyday actions – mostly small and yet greatly important. (Doug spoke to us of these small actions in January and gave wonderful examples.) They can be as simple as holding open a door for someone struggling with boxes at the post office or as lovely as giving a dozen roses to someone when they least expect it, or as time-consuming as taking someone to their doctor’s appointment.
“The simplest acts of kindness are by far more powerful than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.” - Mahatma Gandhi
So our affirmation for today, let’s say together.
I look for opportunities to extend my Kindness and Generosity.
Do you remember the book that came out called Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty (by Anne Herbert)? In 1995, a small group of people at Conari Press, (including M.J. Ryan, Will Glennon, and Dawna Markova), came together around the idea that small gestures and simple acts can make a difference in people's lives. Thus, Random Acts of Kindness was born, but they had no idea how big this little idea would become. Soon, instead of the usual two or three letters from readers, they were getting bags of mail from readers submitting their own acts of kindness and stories of compassion.
Now, 30 years later, over one million copies have been sold and it is a worldwide movement, with a National Random Acts of Kindness Week. They sparked an interest in performing simple, unexpected good deeds (kindness) and creating unexpected beauty (art, joy) for others, aiming to create a more positive world through individual actions,
Well did you know that the Random Acts of Kindness Week starts Feb 15th?
Random Acts of Kindness Week (RAK Week) is now an annual event,celebrated the week of February 14th (Valentine's Day) through February 20th, encouraging people worldwide to perform small, kind gestures to make the world more positive, with goals of making kindness a habit in schools, workplaces, and communities, and participating through acts like complimenting others, paying for someone's coffee, or leaving uplifting notes.
Let’s say our Affirmation for today.
I look for opportunities to extend my Kindness and Generosity.
There is even a Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. They have a wonderful YouTube channel with their projects and promote a curriculum for teaching children how to incorporate acts of kindness into their lives from writing a letter to someone to planting seeds or a tree. It’s very heartwarming and there are a lot of suggestions that apply to all of us, like listening intently to each other and complimenting someone.
And the emphasis and awareness of purposefully extending kindness as a practice started when one person sharing an idea. Now through the School of Kindness 90,000 children every year are taught the skills of compassion and understanding. The workshops help children to realize the power of their actions, develop empathy and tolerance, and improve self-awareness.
When Kindness is practiced and rewarded in Schools the schools become strong, supportive cohesive communities. Here’s some of the encouraging statistics from the School of Kindness results.
100% of schools they surveyed said the children benefitted from Kindness Workshops.
90% of teachers said they felt more confident talking to children about how to deal with unkind people, such as Bullies
80% of teachers said children’s relationships with friends and classmates improved.
94% of teachers said children were more thoughtful of others.
75% of teachers saw an improvement in children’s overall temper or mood.
This is real progress in creating a more benevolent world where loving kindness is seen as positive and not a weakness, and fear doesn’t rule daily lives of children and adults. Imagine that children learn to respond to their hurts not by bullying other children, but with words of kindness. The reason this is so important to all of us is that children who are schoolyard bullies (most likely bullied by their own family members) grow up to be bullies in the workplaces, (deliberately targeting others – maybe not physically, but with anger, subterfuge and psychic violence, creating toxic work environments) in society, in schools, in hospitals, in politics and perpetuating the destruction in their own families, triggering addictions and a whole host of stressful or deadly situations. The profiles of so many of school shooters and others who take the lives of others include the experiences of being bullied. Imagine if these patterns could be transformed into skills of kindness instead – all parts of society would be and affected by the deceptively simple acts of kindness and compassion. These are all the acts of Love, Sweet Love that the world needs now – one person and one act at a time.
Did you know that your Kindness Improves YOUR Mental and Physical Well-Being?
Finally research from U of California is proving that “Engaging in acts of kindness enhances both mental and physical health. Our brains are wired for kindness. Performing kind deeds releases feel-good hormones like oxytocin and serotonin, which help reduce stress and increase happiness. Regularly practicing kindness can lead to lower blood pressure, improved mental health, and even increased lifespan. By making kindness the norm, we not only uplift others but also promote our own well-being.”
Let’s say our Affirmation for today.
I look for opportunities to extend my Kindness and Generosity.
“Witnessing or experiencing kindness inspires others to pay it forward, creating a chain of positivity that spreads far beyond the initial act. This ripple effect has the power to influence entire communities and even spark systemic change.”
I don’t know about you, but I have certainly been the recipient of many acts of kindness all my life. I had parents, especially my mother who modeled kindness every day. I’ve had meals paid for in restaurants, received flowers from people that I helped out, or just because we are neighbors, many thank you cards, given free books, artwork, offers to help with household chores, phone calls that checked in on me when I was not feeling well, free fruit and vegetables, bread, prayers, smiles and friendships, mentors who have guided me along my career. And best of all I am gifted with a husband who is very kind, listens to me and others and performs acts of kindness quietly and humbly. Each of these go into my heart’s gratitude list.
Every time we get together after our Sunday service and share of our food, we are performing acts of kindness and generosity.
Question: What act of kindness that you received that stands out in your mind?
Question: Now what act of kindness did you perform that was perhaps a stretch (like driving someone to the airport)?
Performing acts of kindness isn’t just an optional “Nice to Do” but a vital part of who we are as each other’s brothers and sisters in our Oneness. Remember Jeshua’s (Jesus’) directive: “Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, you do unto me.” Matthew 25:40
This Master of Love didn’t just mean himself but to the Christ self of each of us. It is a core expression of our Oneness and Kinship. It inspires acts of charity, love, and social justice, helping others, especially the forgotten as defining our interconnection.
Make it stand out
I know that each of you is a kind person and we did the food drive in December and I am so grateful to be with a Unity family that is so generous.
And in this Acts of Kindness week and Random Acts of Kindness Day, which is Jan 17th, please contemplate and stretch your kindness. Do that you which you have been meaning to do – make that phone call to a friend you haven’t heard from in a while. Take food offerings to the little pantries in town. Volunteer at an organization that you resonate with. There is so much to be done that you have your choice.
“Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”
My sharing with you is with the bookmarks that I have made for you. Place them somewhere that reminds you to think of someone else today and connect with them. (Bookmarks – 1 for you and one to give to someone else.)
Make your actions deliberate during this special week and then let them become a habit that brings love and joy to both you and to those who receive them. Kindness and generosity are truly expressions of Love and that is our true nature and all that we desire to express.
Jeshua speaks about kindness as a “great desire to know love, unconditional unlimited Love. To come Home again by extending, experiencing love. It is the grandest of gifts to give of your Self – the Self with a capital “S”. And in giving, guess what happens? You find your Self. You experience your Self. As you allow the heart to open and to love feely, caring, understanding, asking only to be companion upon the path, as you allow the shutters of the heart to be flung wide open, you find your Self and you experience the Love that you have been searching for.”
The true purpose of acts of kindness is to bring unconditional Love – also known as Heaven on Earth into our experience of this Life. It is a sweet balm to counter all the worry, the fear, and unhappiness that we have focused on in our illusion of separation from each other and God. Acts of kindness build trust, build relationships, bring joy and build hope for peace with one another.
So “In a world where you can be anything – be KIND!”
Let’s say our Affirmation for today.
I look for opportunities to extend my Kindness and Generosity.
Know that the deeper level of the truth is that whatever we do for another – we are really giving and doing for ourselves, in the Oneness that we are. What the World needs now is Love, sweet Love!
May Peace Prevail on Earth. So be it.
Meditation
Let’s take a few deep breaths and take this message of gentle kindness into your heart. Let your breath bring you deep peace and trust that you are greatly loved and you can share that love with your brothers and sister by daily act of loving kindness.
Be willing to do just one act every day. Even offering a prayer for another is an act of kindness. And at the end of the year you will have touched 365 lives, bringing a touch of heaven to earth.
Breathe peace, feel the power of love that rests in your heart and be the emissary of God’s love, right here and now.