It’s easy to preach about the need for kindness in society. From the Dalai Lama to Marion Williamson, current spiritual thinkers have urged us to act more compassionately and benevolently. But I think we already have a great deal of kindness in society. Giving this question a little more thought can move us into acknowledging not only the kindness we see every day, but also its source and its effect on our health.
“We are absolutely hardwired for kindness,” says Emma Seppala, PhD. Seppala is the associate director of Stanford School of Medicine’s, The Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE).
Watching the news on any given day might lead any of us to question her confident assertion. Yet, serious academic study has proven time and again that humanity is indeed basically kind. It’s also been documented that nurturing and developing kindness serves to protect us not only against stress, but also against stress-related illnesses. It saves lives, turns other lives around and makes for a healthier, gentler world.
Why are we hardwired for kindness? What drives that act of selfless love – even in the simplest form – for another? Is it basically a human instinct to promote survival of the species, as some would suggest? Does kindness just produce biological changes that are good for us? Or, does it point to our innate spiritual nature that transcends material definitions, scientific analysis and specific religions – showing that at its very heart is a simple yet profound expression of divine Love?
A deeper understanding could change the very way we view love, as well as health. Instead of seeing love or health as a biological event or emotion, dependent on external variables, we could see them as intrinsic to our nature – as an outcome of how we express the Divine.
The moral of the Biblical story of the “Good Samaritan” has become part of our global human story. Jesus’ teaching shines a light, not so much on the uncaring attitudes of passersby, or on the thieves who robbed the traveller, but on the qualities of the Samaritan and the health effect of his kindness. And we are drawn to those qualities and resonate with them in such a way that we refer to people who help those in distress as “Good Samaritans.”
Late last year, an article on CTV reported the story of a woman in Ottawa who slid off the road in her car, into the freezing waters of the Ottawa River. The caring actions of a local man who heard the accident as it occurred, saved this woman’s life. Afterwards, when referred to as a Good Samaritan, he remarked that he just did what any other person would have done. In other words – it felt entirely natural to him.
And he is right, for most of us, it is natural to help our neighbor. And it is in that helping that we discover more about who we are.
In another story in the UK Daily Mail, John, a homeless man discovered that caring for a stray dog brought out the nurturing and creative qualities in himself, in a way that was transformative to his nature. "Having George was like having a child and I had to keep a roof over our heads, not for me but for him. He really made me pull my jeans up," remarked John.
The man and his dog are no longer homeless. And isn’t that the point? Helping one another, being kind to each other – it’s a natural, healthy spiritual response to another’s need. Instead of reserving our kindness to random acts, or when we feel someone deserves it, each day can become the day to nurture our own Good Samaritan within and discover that we too are cared for.
Anna Bowness-Park is a Christian Science practitioner. She writes regularly on the relationship between consciousness and health, and how prayer can play a role. You can follow her blog at anna-bownesspark.ca
You can read more articles from our interfaith blog, Spiritually Speaking HERE
