The Call to kiNDness

Kind. This tiny word carries big weight. But what is so significant about those four letters other than the fact that the last two can be turned into a monogram (which totally rocks)?

Kind means loving. Kind means self-giving. Kind means following Jesus’s call.

kiND is also a brand new club on campus. A random acts of kindness club associated with the national Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, we began as a small seed of an idea during the fall of last year and are officially a club on campus as of this semester.

As a club, we repeatedly do things like place 3,000 encouraging sticky notes on the South Dining Hall trays the week before finals, hang “Take What You Need” posters in the library (see picture below), and stand outside DeBart giving free hugs to any and all unsuspecting participants who pass by. To put it simply, being in kiND Club is an absolute blast.

Why, though? What is it about plastering dining hall trays with pink, blue, and green squares of paper with writing on them that brings a sort of giddy excitement into my heart and an almost mischievous giggle to my lips? This is where the more important implication of the word “kind” comes in.

This weekend on the Sophomore Road Trip, I learned a great deal about being kiND. I am currently on crutches for a stress fracture and thus not overly mobile, and the enthusiasm with which my friends and new retreat family stepped up to literally carry me through this experience was astonishing. And quite humbling.

One of Jesus’ messages that we discussed on the Road Trip is found in the Gospel of John: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13 NRSV). Jesus is the embodiment of the word “kind.” His sacrifice for His friends, which includes every human being, is a direct call to action.

This can be an extremely intimidating one, given the literalness of Jesus’ “laying down.” Christians who have gone before us, though, have shown that this call can lead to actions as big as Jesus’ passion and death, or as simple as embracing St. Therese’s “little way.” My friends who carried me around this weekend laid down their lives for me, forgetting about their own comfort in order to increase mine. Taking the time out of the day to perform a random act of kindness is laying down one’s life; there are no resume-boosting or credit-earning elements involved in this action, but simply a caring for someone else’s heart.

The people around me not only ministered to my physical person this weekend, but also to my heart. They loved on me simply because they could, which I could not be more grateful for. This is what kiND Club does, too, through random acts of kindness. And in ministering to other people’s persons, we in turn minister to our own. Kindness is one of the greatest gifts we can give, and we are called to spread it with reckless abandon. Let’s actively live out that call.