Jaw Dropping Stories

"Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." - Ian Macleran

I was in a state of general agitation at one of my friends who I saw posting some particularly worldly ideas on Pinterest and feeling generally rejected and unimportant in light of some texts and posts which I considered questionable at best. I was offended and confused about the situation. (I’m beating around the bush here because this is very personal as you will see.) Thursday night, after math fair I got a text.

“Hey, can you pray for a friend?”

“Yeah what’s up?”

I can’t tell you what was repeated by I have to say my jaw dropped a foot to the ground. I couldn’t believe what this individual had on their heart. I had absolutely no idea and as I was sitting there reading about it, I realized that it needed to be an essay topic. I’ve had a pretty easy life. I’ve moved many times and been to many schools and these have been trying on me especially as I struggle socially. But to talk about extended suffering, not really. I don’t always understand what people are going through. And when someone sends me a text like that it was like getting punched in the face. People are out there and people are suffering immensely.

We are all fighting different battles. This week for me I was trying to be content with what I have and not be displeased with the learning environment that I have. I was trying to deal with personal sins, and getting sleep, time management battles, and the aforementioned friendship dilemma which was more intense than described, but again, kind of personal. (Sorry, I guess that contributes to a sense of ambiguity felt throughout this essay.) I wasn’t going through hell by any means. Generally, it was a good week, but also there were times when I was fighting a battle and it was hard.

Everyone has these battles. And if you disagree with me, then quite frankly I believe you are living a life so steeped in opulence that you are without a battle to fight. Yet your battle is then the greatest because you believe that worldly wealth has all that you need. It doesn’t and it cannot bring you joy. We are all suffering in different ways. Life is hard. That’s a product of living in a sin-cursed world. It’s not always pleasant. Living is wonderful but there is a struggle for all of us that rages within underneath the surface.

So here’s a couple simple questions. When you are suffering, when your loved ones are dying, when you are trying to improve in personal areas, when the sky seems to be falling, what would you want someone to do for you? I think you’d want them to pick up a book if you dropped it, to smile and hold the door, to notice you were sad, to offer just to listen, to tell a funny joke. Be kind. And it costs nothing.

There’s enough negativity in this world. We are all struggling. I’m not going to preach to you on the topic, I just want to know, why can’t we all be kind? The world needs all the good we can do, even the small things, to realize that everyone is suffering in a different way and it makes sense that we would just be kind to each other. And on the days when being kind is out of your ability, because I know those days happen too, just shut up and say nothing. When in doubt, silence is always the best option. It doesn’t cost anything. Can we all just be kind? We don’t know the whole story and we don’t have to. But this we can… we can just be kind. Please? Just be kind.