Sept 1999

First Baptist Church of Vineland, NJ

Welcoming, Witnessing & Winning for the Kingdom of God

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SEPTEMBER 1999

Life for most of us, most of the time, is made up of little things; tiny tasks, small joys, humble services. But we must not let life itself become a little thing or we may find that we are living in a little way. Little things make people happy; and little things make us miserable. As Wordsworth put it: "That best portion of a good man's life - His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love."

St. Paul said it this way in Ephesians 4:32: "Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving." Yes we must learn to forgive people for what they are as well as for what they do.

Learn to throw off the little unkind things; do not let them stick in the mind and make a hurt like a thorn. As a wise may once said - we must have a sense of humor and a duck's back - let irritation run off like water from the back of a duck.

Let us praise people for what they do, instead of criticizing them for what they cannot do, and perhaps did not try to do. A real critic is not a faultfinder but a star finder.

Years ago, a well-known poet wrote four lines that men still remember. They do not tell the whole truth, but they do tell us something we really need in a world full of cruelty:

        "So many gods, so many creeds,
         So many paths that wind and wind
         When just the art of being kind
         Is all this sad world needs."
         E.W. Wilcox

No, kindness is not all the sad world needs. Kindness cannot cure unemployment or cancer. Yet at a time when there is more brutality in the world than ever before, we do need to be kind. Someone said: "From this night on, I shall try to be a little kinder than is necessary." If all people practiced such a rule this world would become a much better place indeed.

The Good Samaritan did it. The next morning, after rescuing the wounded man and taking care of him at the inn, he took out money and asked the innkeeper to use more if needed. That golden deed made his act a work of art.

"A little kinder than is necessary" is the finest of the little things of life, if not its final joy. The only things we are never sorry for are the kind things said and done to others. They will go a long way towards making a soft pillow at the end of each day.

Until next month - might we all spend a little more time with the King of kings and Lord of lords - learning how to be a little more kind. God's best.

Pastor Bob

AUGUST 1999