A Lovingkindness Revolution
Lovingkindness is a choice. There are many possibilities and options for us to consider when we are in relationship with someone. Is it possible, we wonder, to get our point across without hurting feelings? Or, can I take a little jab to make a point without committing to an all out brawl? If I go out of my way for someone, can I expect a return on my investment when I need help?
Lovingkindness is not only a choice, it is a deliberate, willful act. It’s not an attitude or a fuzzy feeling, it requires follow through. It requires perspective. Myra’s cooler of water was a gift to our family and all those workers who delicately worked to remove a tree without further damage to our cars (only one was ultimately totalled). She wasn’t regifting, she thoughtfully recognized the exact need of the moment (one that had not yet occurred to me).
When you happen on someone who’s in trouble or needs help among your people with whom you live in this land that God, your God, is giving you, don’t look the other way pretending you don’t see him. Don’t keep a tight grip on your purse. No. Look at him, open your purse, lend whatever and as much as he needs. Don’t count the cost. Don’t listen to that selfish voice saying, “It’s almost the seventh year, the year of All-Debts-Are-Canceled,” and turn aside and leave your needy neighbor in the lurch, refusing to help him. He’ll call God’s attention to you and your blatant sin.
Deuteronomy 15:7-9 MSG
Lovingkindness costs us. When we were first married sometimes the only food left in our cupboard the last week in the month might be a can of cream of mushroom soup, noodles and a can of tuna: a tuna casserole. I suspect that this tradition of bringing tuna casseroles might have more sacred meaning than I once appreciated. I wonder if, over the course of decades of tuna casserole deliveries, the bringers of said casserole might just be bringing the last of what remained in their cupboard.
Who would you bring a tuna casserole to? Who would bring one to you? Let’s start our own revolution. #bringbackthetunacasserole
