Pay It Forward

Last night one of our dearest friends did one of the most thoughtful and generous things for our family. I literally cried with gratitude. Coincidentally, right before meeting with him, I had just come back from teaching at my son’s religion education class. The lesson was about “The Good Samaritan” and how we can apply the principle of “loving your neighbor as yourself” in our daily lives. Our 4th grade class had much discussion about acts of kindness, acts of mercy, and how to be a caring and loving individual. We had specifically talked about how simple acts of kindness can start a chain of thoughtful events while leading others to also act with kindness.
As the kids shared ways in which they planned on doing acts of kindness and ways in which they have already performed good deeds, we asked ourselves lots of questions. Are we helping those in need on the side of the road? Are we paying attention to those that are hurting? Do you defend another’s character while they are unjustly being disparaged? Are we giving each other the benefit of the doubt? Does our behavior show good character?
We can never equally reciprocate our friend for what he has done for us nor does he want us to. But his act of kindness is a great example of love and friendship that we will never forget. It also inspires us to be generous in our acts of kindness. Right now, our way of being generous and showing “love for our neighbors” is by continually volunteering at our local schools and our church. Our hope is that our children can benefit from seeing our friend’s act of kindness and witnessing our volunteering activities, inspiring them to also act with kindness. Also we hope that our community at large can benefit too.
The expression “paying it forward” is about finding a way to help your community and your fellow human beings. There is actually a “Pay It Forward” foundation that promotes “lending a helping hand to someone in need…making a difference by doing something small…leaving the world a better place than you found it.” I know our friend a great believer in “paying it forward;” we are definitely not the only recipients of his kindness.
Let us inspire others by doing our own acts of kindness and talk with our kids about how the world needs good neighbors. Treating others like you want to be treated cannot be said enough. Little acts of kindness do make the world a better place.