On Cardigans and Kindness

Yesterday, as you probably know, was World Kindness Day. It was billed as a celebration of random, and not-so-random, acts of thoughtfulness and caring. A 24 hour nice-a-thon, all of us called to be good neighbors, good friends, and good strangers too. I was out and about yesterday, and I will say that just about everyone I encountered was pretty pleasant: no snarls from my co-workers at church, the supermarket checker did not curse at me when she had to look up the price of broccoli rabe, and the members of the support group I lead at Christ's Lutheran were, well, supportive. Now I realize I live in a bit of a bubble, and that Julie and Rose’s experiences on the NYC subways during World Kindness Day may well have been different. But I’m willing to bet it was business as usual in the Big Apple, everyone behaving as they normally would.

So what’s wrong with a day earmarked WKD? Nothing, except that it makes me a bit sad. We don’t have National Brush Your Teeth Day, do we? Because it is just assumed we do that on a daily basis anyway. Or World Breathing Day? Just comes naturally, right? But apparently kindness is a commodity in short supply, so much so that we need to spotlight it on November 13^th. Now, I’m not naïve; I have observed that simple civility in the political realm (and elsewhere) is on life support. We are living in a climate of “attack or be attacked,” and we risk getting verbally clobbered whenever we voice a contrary opinion. I fear things may devolve to the point that we will have to have a “Try Not to Kill Anyone Day.”

But deep down, I believe that, as Anne Frank wrote, most people ARE good at heart. We just forget to act like it, often. So I guess having a day dedicated to showing kindness is a necessary reminder after all.

The face of WKD this year was Fred Rogers, he of the soft voice and zippered cardigans, whose beloved TV program soothed generations of kids (and their grownups). It is all too common for our idols to be de-throned amid scandals and misdeeds. Mister Rogers was, by comparison, a saint—the real deal. An ordained minister whose pulpit was television, and whose simple message of love and acceptance was broadcast nationwide. There’s a new movie about him coming out soon, starring Tom Hanks, and I’m sure legions of fans (including me) will go to see it, and to remember him fondly.

As we wake up this morning, I hope we will commit ourselves to eradicating World Kindness Day. We won’t need to feature kindness as an aberration or a lofty goal or a once-a-year sentiment. It will be the unremarkable way we will act naturally towards our brothers and sisters, our fellow humans on this planet, every single day.

May our world become a place where kind and caring Fred Rogers is “just like us.”

My cardigan for November 14th