Kindness *

Pain inflicted days grow in frequency
And the intensity of the burn increases
Driving me to my knees.

But we are all in pain.
The degree of pain is relative
To the sufferer.

Pain has been a cruel companion
But a wonderful schoolmaster.
I have learned kindness from pain.

Kindness
Impacts both the giver and getter.
It’s worth more than the medications I take
If I will simply listen to another’s pain story.

Kindness
Extends the hand of God to the sufferer
Soothes the burn
Eases the ache.

Kindness
Encourages those yearning for relief
To endure one more hour
One more day.

Kindness
Is not trumping the pain of another
Just to demonstrate I am in greater pain
Or have suffered longer.

Kindness
May mean saying nothing of my own pain
But allowing another to bleed
Into the bandage of my concern.

Kindness
Is love with shoes on
Willing to go where the pain is great
Though I carry my own burden.

Kindness
Is later returned to me
In unexpected ways
And in great degree
From hands pained with the print
Of nail scars.

*(This message is greater than the vehicle that bears it. We are all in pain. If not the flesh, it's the spirit that cries for relief. I am encouraged that, in the Revelation of St. John, he writes there is no longer any pain in the new heaven, the new earth, or the new Jerusalem. I'm very ready to go. I hope you are as well.)