You probably wouldn’t recognize the name “Anne Herbert,” but I bet you would recognize a phrase that she coined way back in 1982. This writer and activist came up with the idea of practicing Random Acts of Kindness. Her simple idea had a strong appeal and soon it was spreading around the country and even around the world. In 1992 a book with the title Random Acts of Kindness was published promoting this thought: “Imagine what would happen if there were an outbreak of kindness in the world, if every-body did one kind thing on a daily basis.” The book became an instant bestseller and inspired many people to take action.
Among the things that resulted from the “Random Acts of Kindness” movement were the following:
An annual Random Acts of Kindness Week, in which participants were encouraged to do things like paying the toll of the person on the road behind them, shoveling their neighbor’s driveway when it snowed, offering flowers to a co-worker with whom they normally didn’t get along. By 1997, more than 500 communities in five countries celebrated Random Acts of Kindness Week.
Random Acts of Kindness clubs were formed that handed out gifts to strangers on the subway and delivered goodie baskets to nursing homes, hospitals and rehab centers.
A Random Acts of Kindness emphasis grew in schools. Some principals even gave deserving students certificates saying, “Caught Ya Being Kind.”
An endorsement from Princess Diana. She said, “Perhaps we’re too embarrassed to change or too frightened of the consequences of showing that we actually care. But why not risk it anyway? Begin today. Carry out a random act of seemingly senseless kindness, with no expectation of reward or punishment, safe in the knowledge that one day, someone somewhere might do the same for you.”
Thousands of suggestions for random acts of kindness, including adopting a stray animal, smiling at the bus driver, really listening to someone, complimenting a stranger sincerely, returning shopping carts to the store, writing a thank-you note to someone, buying biscuits for your neighbor’s dog, treating your local police officers to coffee, or giving up your place at the grocery store to someone who has only one item.
We certainly could do with some random acts of kindness in our country today. People are angry, anxious, and self-isolating. Divisions are left to fester and grow. People can’t seem to talk to one another without getting defensive or aggressive. What if we all were to practice one act of kindness every day? What would change?
The movement to commit random acts of kindness didn’t originate in 1982. It can trace its roots back to the 1st century, with a little band of people known as Christians. They were encouraged and motivated by the example of Jesus to reach out in care and compassion to the people around them who were in need. They didn’t expect anything in return; they did it simply because it was the Christian thing to do.
Here in this passage from Acts 9, we meet a woman who understood the nature and the necessity of kindness. Her name was Tabitha in Hebrew, Dorcas in Greek. Her name means “gazelle” in both languages. I think that her name suited her, because gazelles are very graceful animals and Tabitha’s heart was full of grace. She had made a commitment to take care of the poor in her own small way, by making clothes for the poor, especially for widows. She ran her own little welfare agency right out of her home, trying to help the people who were on the lowest rung in society, who had no one else to represent or protect them. But then Tabitha died and her death caused a crisis in the community. What would happen to the people she had been helping? The most vulnerable members of society now had no one to look out for them. How would they survive?
As it turned out, Peter was nearby, in a town that was just 10 miles away from Joppa, where Tabitha had lived. Some of the Christians sent for Peter to come and told him to hurry. Usually, burials took place before sundown on the day a person died. But Peter got there before that happened. He was met by a group of widows who had been the recipients of Tabitha’s kindness, and they showed him the robes and clothes that she had made for them. They were tangible evidence of her life, and of what her death meant to them. Tabitha had been a model of kindness, doing what she could do to help the needy.
Peter sent the others away and knelt beside the body of this Christian woman, and he prayed. He followed the same pattern used by Jesus when he had raised the daughter of Jairus from the dead. Peter called her by name, “Tabitha, get up.” And she opened her eyes and sat up. Then Peter summoned the believers and widows and gave Tabitha back to them. Because of what happened, we are told that many people came to believe in Jesus.
So many times, we think that we have nothing to offer to others, or to God. But Tabitha used the resources she had and her skill at sewing to help the people where she lived. William Barclay, a 20th-century theologian, offered these words to those who feel inadequate: “We think too much of what we can do and too little of what Christ can do through us.” That’s the secret, you know. Whatever we offer to do, whatever gifts or resources or skills we have to offer, they were given to us by God to be used in his service. Jesus will work in us and multiply what we have so that we can believe even more in his power. It doesn’t have to be some great, huge task or gift or ministry. It can be anything, and it can start anywhere. John Wesley urged the early Methodists, “Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.” In other words, do what you can where you are with what you have.
How much difference can one person make? You might be surprised.
Walter Jeffries, who at age 67 was still manning a tollbooth in New Jersey on the Garden State Parkway, had an encounter one stormy night with a woman named Heather McCombs. She had driven out of Newark Airport on her way to her wedding. She had all sorts of problems on her trip. First, she wasn’t able to sleep at all on her flight from Los Angeles. Then her connecting flight to upstate New York had been canceled, and then all of her bags, including her wedding dress, were lost. Hungry and exhausted by the awful day, Heather rented a car and drove from the airport to the tollbooth where Walter Jeffries was working. Then she had another problem – she had no cash. “What happens when people have no money?” she asked Walter. Then she burst into tears. Jeffries, who had two daughters of his own, pulled a $10 bill from his wallet and gave it to her. “Here you go.” Heather drove on to the next rest stop, where she pulled over and bought some food and coffee. She got home safe and sound for her wedding day. Working at his toll booth, Walter was probably not even really noticed by the people who came through every day. They just dropped the money in his hand and drove on. But he certainly made a difference in the life of this one young woman.
And then there’s the story of Kevin Kaplowitz. He started visiting hospitals when he was just ten years old and putting on magic shows for the children. One day he saw a little girl who was suffering from third-degree burns. He made her a balloon animal and she started to laugh and smile. Kevin said, “I got her to forget her pain.” He is now fifteen years old and still puts on magic shows for the sick and the elderly in Los Angeles. He donates the money that he earns as a magician at a restaurant to local hospitals and to programs for disadvantaged children. Kathy Pearson, a nurse at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, said, “We try to give him $25 gift certificates for a nearby mall, but he turns around and gives us $100 for our cancer program.” What a difference that young man is making in so many lives!
Every day we have opportunities to make a difference in someone’s life. And I believe that if we take advantage of those opportunities, we will find ourselves drawing closer to God. Frank C. Lauback wrote, “If anybody were to ask me how to find God, I should say at once: Hunt out the deepest need you can find and forget all about your own comfort while you try to meet that need. Talk to God about it and he will be there. You will know it.”
We should pattern our lives after Tabitha. We should keep ourselves busy always doing good. It is what we are called to do by Jesus, who spent his life doing good for others. So let’s get busy committing random acts of kindness in the name of Jesus!
