My husband and I look forward to a Friday evening newscast that ends weekly with an uplifting story. This past week we were moved once again by a story about Chris Rosati, the husband and father in Durham, North Carolina who has suffered with ALS for three years.  You might remember him as the guy who last December “stole” (with their permission) a Krispi Kreme donut truck and gave away a thousand donuts – many to kids in local hospitals.   In May he rolled out the BIGG project (Big Ideas for the Greater Good); he challenged kids to come up with creative and fun random acts of kindness and send him the ideas.  Of the 70 submitted, his non-profit selected those that would make the best viral video to be filmed.  The Friday news story was prompted by the August 3 Red Carpet premier of BIGG, the collection of those videos.  We love stories like these that make us so much more aware of the goodness and generosity of people that is often overlooked because of the plethora of bad news.

The morning after the news story of the BIGG premier, we went to Tony’s, a neighborhood café, for breakfast.  We had just finished and were asking a waitress for our check when our friend and co-owner, Lina came to the table to say that our breakfast had been paid for by a young man who had been seated in the booth behind us.  We were amazed and touched – tears filled our eyes as they had the previous night.  But this time we’d been the recipients of a random act of kindness by someone we didn’t even notice!   She told us that it happens often in their café – people are kinder and more generous than we think.  Lina asked us to pray for Pedro, our young benefactor, who is recovering from back surgery.  And we ask you to join us in praying for Pedro’s healing.  And while we’re at it, let’s pray for more acts of random kindness that lift spirits and spread such joy.

“Small acts of friendliness can create much joy.  ….  But how little do we use this knowledge?”  Henri Nouwen.

Or as my great aunt always said, “It’s nice to be nice.”

Or as St. Paul writes: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22.

Eunice Cheshire

Spiritual Director

HeartPaths Founding Faculty

August 2014