The Transformative Power of Kindness (whose origin is sorrow)

“He was despised and rejected— a man of sorrows,
acquainted with deepest grief…”   Isaiah 53:3 

Earlier this week, the Christian tradition began its forty-day period of repentance and mourning, starting with the imposition of ashes this past Wednesday. This Sunday, March 9th, begins the first of six Sundays, during which both liturgy and sacred text attest to the gravity of the condition confronting humankind and all of creation—one steeped in finitude, vulnerability, and inexplicable loss.

Writes poet Naomi Shibah Nye,
“Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing
…then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore.” [1]

When cruelty appears to have the final word, be it ostracizing transgender people, othering immigrants, cutting off aid to third-world nations, or doubling down on plundering the planet, the transformative power of kindness offers a radically different lens.   A way of being that refuses to remain quiet or on the sidelines, but through speech and action,  “…raises its head from the crowd of the world to say, It is I you have been looking for and then goes with you everywhere like a shadow or a friend.”[2]

Prayer: Beloved One, did you know how much would be demanded of you when the Spirit drove you into the bleak and barren wilderness?  Yet, having faced the magnitude of want and the depth of sorrow’s bleakness, You became the tenderest of shoots, triumphantly emerging from the hard rock of despair.  So let us not lose heart in sorrow’s wake but bravely practice the transformative power of kindness.  For you are the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation, and in You all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.  We offer this prayer in all the holy names of God. Amen. 

[1] Kindness, a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, copyright 1995.

[2] ibid. 

[3] Scriptural references and text in today’s prayer come from the Gospel of Luke 4:1-13 and Colossians 1:15 & 1:19

[4] This reflection is offered in gratitude to Janice Mason Steeves, Mary Ann Holtz and others who take part in the online contemplative prayer community:https://meditationchapel.org/

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Author: Jessica McArdle

These are dark and corrosive times. As a writer and ordained minister with the United Church of Christ, I use prayer, poetry, reflection, and scripture to re-align our embattled spirits with the uniqueness and urgency of our God-given identity and call. View all posts by Jessica McArdle