Devotional Five: Kindness

“A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.”  -Proverbs 11:17 

“Well, well, hello, Dolly  Well, hello, Dolly  It’s so nice to have you back where you belong.”  -Hello, Dolly! 

While Dolly might have a casual relationship with truth-telling, no one can accuse her of lacking kindness. At the heart of her motives is the joy of others, even if that includes herself. Watching Dolly swirl and move throughout the music, she is more than simply manipulating people for her own good. She is trying to revive life in those around her, and she clearly believes in second chances. The impact of her first marriage to Ephraim Levi teaches her that kindness needs to be spread to those around her. Dolly states how she plans to use Horace’s great monetary fortune to encourage things to grow and become the benefactress of Yonkers, New York. 

Dolly isn’t the only character to experience and spread kindness. There is a great deal of kindness and emotional warmth throughout this classic musical. From the friendship between Cornelius and Barnaby to the protective way in which Irene guides Minnie along, Hello, Dolly! provides many opportunities for the audience to see the results of kindness. Even Horace shows kindness to the wallpaper hanger at the end of the play by providing him with his first opportunity to work. Kindness is an important theme of this musical.  

Kindness has a poor reputation in the world. If you deal in kindness with someone, you leave yourself vulnerable. When thinking of Jesus, He often makes Himself vulnerable to offer kindness to others. In Luke 6, Jesus is carefully watched by the religious leaders of the day to see if He will heal a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. According to the religious leaders, no work was to be done on the Sabbath, and to them, this included acts of healing. In Luke 6, there is a bit of entrapment going on as the scribes and Pharisees wait to pounce on Jesus for doing an act of work on the special day of rest. Jesus knows their thoughts and sees their trap, and He chooses to heal the man anyway. Jesus says, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” (Luke 6:9) Jesus extends kindness to the man even though He places Himself in danger with the scribes and Pharisees. Eventually, the scribes and Pharisees will plot to have Jesus killed.  

Throughout His trial, which leads to a sentence of death, Jesus does not protest or vigorously defend Himself. Rather, Jesus, in His great kindness, takes on the humiliating suffering of the cross to pay for humanity’s sins and make a way to genuine relationship with God the Father. May the kindness of Jesus inspire us to put others ahead of ourselves and do good to others despite the cost.