Essay

Kindness in a Coffee Cup

By Rev. Dr. Roger Braun, Retired Methodist Minister, guest columnist

I have a close friend who is involved in the Kairos prison ministry. Once a year, a group of dedicated individuals is allowed to enter the local Federal Prison for three days. During the three days, prisoners are introduced to the radical love of God through Jesus Christ. My friend tells the story about his first encounter with his prisoner for the three days. Heading in his direction walked a big, muscular man, tall, imposing, and threatening. My friend introduced himself and asked the man if he would like a cup of coffee to start the event, and how he would like his coffee. The man did not say anything, so my friend asked him to have a seat, and then he went over to the coffee machine and poured out a cup of black coffee. Then he took it over to the prisoner and handed it to him. It was then that the big man began to cry. Not hard, but with gentle tears. He said to my friend, “This is the first time anyone has done something for me.” Just a small act of kindness has power we are unaware of to influence the lives of people. The act of kindness is something uniquely human. Humans have the great ability to act kindly towards their own species, seeing another as someone to care for, not ignore.

Was there a time in your life when someone was kind to you?

Do you remember a teacher who spent some extra time with you so you could learn what was being taught? Did someone stop and offer you a helping hand when you were in distress? Or maybe someone just offered you a smile and told you to go ahead of them in the grocery line because you had only two items to buy? I hope and pray you are not like that prisoner who was never shown kindness. But maybe the next person you do a kind act for will be like him, and you will be the first one to show him kindness and make his day better.