Listen

Finally, all of you be of one mind, sympathetic, lovers of your fellow believers, compassionate, and modest in your opinion of yourselves. Don’t pay back evil for evil or insult for insult. Instead, give blessing in return. You were called to do this so that you might inherit a blessing.

1 Peter 3:8-9

Think

“Let your kindness be like rain, that cares not whom it falls upon.” (Anonymous, often credited to the 13th-century Sufi poet Rumi)

This is similar to what Peter is telling us too. This is the big picture. And in the big picture, some things matter a lot more than others.

Be kind. Don’t get into petty fights exchanging insults. When evil is done to you, repay it with kindness.

In the big picture, we have been given an incredible blessing, so we bless others. Don’t forget this bigger picture.

The poet Mary Oliver says: “Something is wrong, I know it, if I don’t keep my attention on eternity. May I be the tiniest nail in the house of the universe, tiny but useful. May I stay forever in the stream.” (in Upstream: Selected Essays, 2019)

How do we stay aware that we are in the stream of deep beauty and deep blessing? What blessings are a part of your day already? How can you bless others, even in the smallest way today? How can you be kind?

Daneen Akers

Pray

Source of All, help me be kind.

Help me stay in the stream where I am aware of the deep beauty and blessings all around me.

Help me extend blessing to everyone I meet.

Amen.

Go

Like the poet Wendell Berry says, “be joyful though you have considered all the facts.”

Practice resurrection.