Jesus said, "Give to every man that asketh of thee" (Luke 6:30). What if we took that commandment seriously? Would kindness spread like a wave on a pond?
We humans have trouble with kindness. We do not like to reward those who are different than our tribe. We have a fear of strangers. Xenophobia dominates.
Imagine someone on the street, a male stranger, walking up to you and offering a flower. How would you react?
I am such a curmudgeon that if someone handed me a flower, I would snap back, "Are you some kind of religious nut or something?" OK, I might not say that out loud, but I would think it.
Are we even designed to respond to unprovoked kindness without suspicion?
Paul Wesselmann is a popular motivational speaker in the Midwest. His life mission is to spread a cascade of kindness. In a recent YouTube message, he proposed a "ripples grant," in which he would fund $50 to $100 dollar creative projects designed to promote positive energy within a community. My middle son (SON#2) took up the challenge.
With the obtained grant money, SON#2 purchased nearly 100 white roses to be given away to complete strangers. Attached to each rose was the following message:
Welcome to “The Ripples Project” a Paul Wesselmann organization that promotes the spread of positive energy! Please take one of these Roses and keep it for yourself, because you deserve it. With the remaining bundle of Roses, pass it to someone else, because they deserve it! In this way, we can brighten each other’s day!
Naturally, when I heard he was going to do this, I thought he was either crazy or that he had found a cheap way to meet some girls. Maybe I need to change my attitude.
In any case, SON#2 created a very nice video of the experience, and below is the result:
Kindness like a wave ripples outward. I am grateful to the courteous strangers who accepted the flowers without calling the cops on my idealistic son. (Or did they?)
Are you not impressed with the generous reactions of all the people in the film? Maybe the people of Des Moines are just special. Would SON#2 have had as much success in Salt Lake? Sure he would.
But, wouldn't we all be more comfortable if SON#2 put on a BYU football helmet and received a "15-yard penalty" for unnecessary roughness?
No, our family did not push football. We pushed "Give to every man that asketh of thee" and "dinosaurs" (but that is another story).
So, I am a proud father, but I just hope my son does not decide to give away his car. Kindness should have limits and boundaries.
Further, I am NOT giving away my chips and salsa.
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5 comments:
Thanks Dad for posting it! They were 100 white flowers by the way :)
Isn't it wonderful how modern technologies bring families together. Bit to Byte is so much better than hugs and kisses.
Very nice. Way to go son #2!
I really enjoyed this video and the idea behind it. Your son looks like a great guy and total gentleman. Though is it always that windy in Iowa?!
aarondavidson:
There is no such thing as good weather in Iowa. This is why our cultural (Mormon) ancestors made such an effort to get west. Of course, there could be other reasons too.
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