Why you should BE KIND to everyone

 

We've all heard and still hear the words, "Be kind." It's probably your motto in life. Many repeat it to themselves every morning before they start their day. Parents remind their children of it as much as they can. And of course, it's a part of God's character. Probably apart from the Pharisees and the people who Jesus lashed out on for turning the temple into a marketplace, everyone who encountered Him felt and were transformed by His loving kindness.

The world is such a messed up place that it gets hard to be kind to people outside of our loved and trusted ones. It's so easy to dismiss someone else based on how well they've not treated us. More so, we easily get tempted to throw kindness out the window and show malice to those who we think deserve it, for various reasons. They could have done us wrong. They could have hurt someone close. They could have simply triggered us unintentionally. So why do we have to be kind to others?

I got my answer (I wasn't even looking for it) in 2016. One evening, I was chilling with some friends when I suddenly felt a shiver run through my whole body. It was the kind of shiver that precedes a fever. It was strange, because I was totally fine before. At the same time, I got so uncomfortable sitting down. A part deep in my sitting apparatus felt quite stiff. I felt like I was sitting on a small stone. Something was not right. Another jolting shiver overcame me, and I decided to quickly head home before things got worse.

In my university days, I'd learned to take medication as soon as I got symptoms of a cold or fever, and sleep it off. It always worked when I caught it on time. This was different though. The next morning, I was worse. I still felt sick and the "stone" in my sitting apparatus had developed into a firm and sensitive lump. It was painful to sit down. I'd never experienced this before in my life, and it was not fun at all. It just kept getting worse and I had to go the hospital. My cab driver was nowhere close to me, and the only means of transport I could find was a moto. The ride to the hospital was gruelling, as I had to be strategic with how I sat on it, so as not to apply pressure on the lump that felt like it would burst at any time. I even had to ask the driver to stop after a couple kilometers so I could take a few minutes break, before gritting my teeth and hopping back on for the remainder of the journey to the hospital.

I finally got there, thank God! But, the place was packed. And, there was only one doctor tending to the patients. My pleas were unfruitful before he made it crystal clear that I'd have to come back the next morning, which I did. The whole time though, I couldn't help but wonder where I'd seen him before. He looked so familiar, but I just couldn't figure it out. While it was finally time to tend to me, he said, "Hi Gael," and proceeded when he saw the puzzled look on my face, "I know you from Butare." Ahaaa! That's why he looked so familiar. We went to the same university many years ago.

After a brief chat, he asked me what was wrong with me and I told him everything. He then told me he'd have to take a look at my lump. He put on a white glove on his hand as he told me to pull my pants down and lie sideways on the bed. He then proceeded to check it out and probed it (talk about humiliation) a few times before telling me, "It's an anal abscess, and it's quite big. We're going to have to drain it and keep you here for the night." All I could do was be so glad and thankful that I never had any sort of beef with him. I was at his mercy and that would have been his moment of redemption.

So why do we have to be kind to others? I'll tell you why: You never know whose hands your sitting apparatus might be in...literally.

LOL!!!