Kindness

Today one of our study circle discussions revolved around the idea of a kindly tongue, and how it attracts the hearts of men. A reminded me, when I told her about it, that I'd blogged about this before (quite a memory!) and so I will direct your attention to the following post:

A kindly tongue

There is an interesting dynamic that exists between being loving/kind, and yet truthful and just. Often it seems like the two might be contradictory, or impossible to achieve together - but I think its possible to balance the two in any situation. The ideal of course is to always be truthful or just - and at the same time present the truth in the garb of kindness and love. There is this idea presented in the quote that a kindly tongue "clotheth the words with meaning" - which might give us some insight into why often, even when we advise/help someone sincerely or try to explain some thought/idea to them, they do not understand our words/actions. Even the truth needs to be spoken with pure loving-kindness to be truly understood and appreciated.

A few remarkable people who were able to achieve this ideal come to mind - such as Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Yudhishthira, Abdul Baha etc - come to mind, and it is obvious that this is not just some far-out, unreachable Utopian picture, but something we can surely inculcate in our lives too with some effort. Further, the fact that we still remember people like these years, sometimes eons after their passing, shows us the lasting effect of such qualities.