More Kind Hearts

 

In my neighborhood, the first sign that Spring has sprung is not the weather or the calendar. The first sign of Spring is that all manner of stuff begins to appear at the curb for pick up. House after house, block after block, it appears almost planned and orchestrated. The race is on to unclutter. It is time to move out the little kid stuff and make room for the bigger kid stuff. Garages need to actually have room for a car as the season of the Texas hail storm arrives. Well, this weekend made it official. It is Spring in the neighborhood.

I enjoy seeing the offerings left at the curb. I am sure that over these past two years more than a few neighbors have scratched their head at the wandering grey-haired man who takes pictures of their trash! More often than not, there is something interesting to be seen. More often than not, there is something that sparks a memory or fuels my imagination.

This rocker in the shape of a dog made me smile. I am a dog person, so that was part of the attraction. It sparked memories of the all the real life dogs that have filled the years of my life with joy. It also reminded me of one of my favorite all-time toys - the Slinky Hound. I was content for hours to pull it along and watch it accordion its way after me. Good times.

But the other thing that caught my eye was how it was placed in the box. Even though it was being thrown away, it was not crammed in head first or wrapped in a garbage bag like so much of the other stuff. Whether the owner was conscious of it or not, this toy was placed in a box as one would place a real puppy. It made me smile. Maybe it is just me, but I like to think it showed a kind heart.

We live in a time when we need more kind hearts. There seems to be a growing sense of “everyone for themself” in our society. When we only look out for ourselves, or those who look like us or would agree with us in our politics or faith or lifestyle, our hearts can grow hard toward the needs and the pain and the gift of others. We are diminished when we cease to be kind toward others. In the Book of Proverbs we read, “A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.” Why not do us all some good and be kind?

Peace.