Kindness in a cruel world

Kids can be so cruel, can’t they? It was ever thus. I expect you can remember be teased at school for something or another. Other kids can always find something to tease you about. Nicola’s latest is being teased for having a skinny dog – we don’t have enough money to feed him properly apparently and he looks like a rat.

And we carry all the emotional baggage of that teasing into adulthood I think. We are then afraid to stand out and wear what we want or look how we want or act how we want for fear of being laughed at or teased. People can be cruel, we’ve all experienced that. So we do all that we can to protect ourselves from experiencing this kind of cruelty – and end up never living our lives to the full as a result.

I really believe in kindness – showing kindness whenever and wherever we can. Kindness is so under-rated and yet it can make such a difference. That’s why I’m so excited about my new running club where people of all shapes and sizes and levels of fitness can come together to give it a go. The kindness and encouragement are overwhelming and are setting people free from their fears……it’s the best feeling ever!

So this chapter today is all about David showing kindness. He deliberately seeks out an opportunity to show kindness. He remembers Saul’s son Jonathan’s kindness to him and wants to repay it in some way.

“Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?”  2 Samuel 9:1

And there is. Mephibosheth. Jonathan’s son. Who is lame in both feet.

He comes before King David in fear and trepidation and humility. You get the feeling he has not been treated well.

David promises to show him kindness –

Don’t be afraid, for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table. 2 Samuel 9:7

And Mephibosheth’s response?

What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?  2 Samuel 9:8

It’s so sad, isn’t it? When someone is treated in a certain way for so long, they start to believe they are worthless. They start to believe what people say about them. They start to believe the labels. How worthless must you feel to describe yourself as a dead dog?

And yet David stuck to his word. He kept his promise. His kindness really counted for something.

And Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, because he always ate at the king’s table; he was lame in both feet.  2 Samuel 9:13

Physical disabilities are easy to see and an easy target for cruel teasing. Now as then. I remember visiting the Cure Hospital in Malawi and being told about their club foot programme. About children in villages born with ‘lame feet’ (maybe like Mephibosheth) and being hidden away, being an embarrassment to the family, being seen as cursed…..with a condition that is easily treatable at a young age. Have a look at the Cure Clubfoot Programme and be inspired by their work as I was. This is part of the Shoe Diary (written from a child’s perspective) I wrote on my return –

ENTRY FIVE: A Room Full of Shoes
We have come to Malawi to visit friends who used to live near us in England. The Dad, Steve, has got a job running a children’s hospital in Blantyre. They operate on deformed bones and muscles so that disabled children can be cured.

Steve takes us to the hospital for a visit. I hate hospitals because I can’t stand needles. I nearly fainted when I went to watch Alex having stitches taken out of his lip from when he hit himself in the face with a tennis racket (see, he’s not always that clever). I hope I don’t faint today.

We enter a room full of shoes. Shelves from floor to ceiling stacked high with shoes like a shoe shop. But these are not ordinary shoes. Each pair is joined together by a metal bar. Comedy shoes, more like – how on earth could you walk in them?

Steve explains that these contraptions are to treat a condition called clubfoot. I have never seen anyone with clubfoot. I wouldn’t have though, because in England, clubfoot is easily treated at birth. Here, many people believe that crooked feet are a curse and do not know that there is a cure.

Living with clubfoot is really painful. So staff from the hospital drive out to the villages, looking for children with deformed feet. If the child is less then two years old, they can be treated with plastercasts and these special shoes for their feet. If the child is over two, they have to have surgery, but it is well worth it, because afterwards, they can lead a normal life.

Imagine being able to walk without pain for the first time in your life.
Imagine being able to play football with your friends for the first time. It must be amazing.

Playing with the parachute with the children outside is unusual, to say the least, as most of them are in wheelchairs following their surgery. We all concentrate really hard in silence to guide the ball towards the hole in the middle
and then a loud cheer!

I really like sitting on the mat and helping the little children do jigsaws. I nearly laugh out loud when I see that one of the puzzles is a pair of shoes. What a coincidence! I guess shoes matter even more for these children who have never been able to put a pair on their feet before. All these cured little feet soon to need shoes for the first time – how cool is that?

So how can we show kindness in a cruel world today? A smile? A chat over coffee? A phone call? A Facebook message? An encouraging comment to a partner or child? A donation to a charity?……find your unique way……