After a friend died, I received a note from his family. It thanked me for my kindness.
On the front of the note card was a beautiful poem written by Naomi Shihab Nye. I’m sharing part of the poem:
Before you know what kindness really is
You must lose things,
Feel the future dissolve in a moment
Like salt in a weakened broth….
Then it is only kindness that makes sense anymore,
Only kindness that ties your shoes
And sends you out into the day to mail letters and purchase bread….
And then goes with you everywhere like a shadow or a friend.
Comments
3 responses to “Be kind to one another”
That’s beautiful. Thanks for sharing that.
I love Naomi Shihab Nye. I was introduced to her by my adviser at Hendrix several years ago. This is my favorite of her poems:
Red Brocade:
The Arabs used to say,
When a stranger appears at your door,
feed him for three days
before asking who he is,
where he’s come from,
where he’s headed.
That way, he’ll have strength
enough to answer.
Or, by then you’ll be
such good friends
you don’t care.
Let’s go back to that.
Rice? Pine Nuts?
Here, take the red brocade pillow.
My child will serve water
to your horse.
No, I was not busy when you came!
I was not preparing to be busy.
That’s the armor everyone put on
to pretend they had a purpose
in the world.
I refuse to be claimed.
Your plate is waiting.
We will snip fresh mint
into your tea.
Her focus on kindness, hospitality and mutual respect is quite powerful and informed a great deal of my work and process during college.
Liz, I am happy that you like Naomi Shihab Nye, too! Joy