Seeds of Kindness ~ by Carole Damon

When I started visiting Alan in jail, he spent most of his time reading novels. I asked if I brought him a daily devotional if he could give at least 30 seconds a day to God by reading it and he said sure. At last Sunday's visit I asked how the devotional reading was going and he said it is the most popular book in I block..... really? Every afternoon 3 or 4 "religious" inmates go to his cell to see what the devotional of the day has to say. I was floored when I heard this, never did I think one little devotional book would touch many, my little seed sprouted!

While I was flipping channels that night I came across Charles Stanley talking about sowing seeds of kindness and how the fruits of the Spirit include kindness. This week I visited Alan on Saturday and told him of Charles Stanley's message and asked if he thought he might be sowing seeds of kindness by sharing his devotional with the other inmates and he said yah, I probably am. We went on talking about other things and he said that most of the other inmates seem to like him... oh? Yah, some of them can't read and when they get letters from home or the courts, they take the letters to Alan and he reads the letters to them. Alot of the inmates do not have good grammar and when they need to write a letter, they write out what they want to say and Alan writes the letter for them using proper English. He says his handwriting isn't the best but at least he uses correct grammar. Alan, do you think you are sowing seeds of kindness by doing this? (Pause and a smile) Yah, I guess I am.

You can sow seeds of kindness wherever you are and sometimes you don't even know you're doing it. Sowing a seed can be as simple as holding a door open or remembering to say a prayer for someone. What will you do this week to sow your seed of kindness?


Carole d.