For years, St. Luke’s has been dedicated to its mission of “sharing God’s love and bringing hope to the world.” In 2016, there’s an additional goal: changing the world through simple acts of kindness.
It’s called THE KINDNESS PROJECT!
“We thought The Kindness Project would be a good theme, where we ask people to do an act of kindness each and every day, no matter how small,” Rev. Wendy Lambert said.
“It is Leap Year, so you’ve got to do it 366 times,” Dr. Bob Long joked during the sermon on January 3 where he introduced the project.
Examples of kindness are endless: Letting another driver have a great parking spot. Stopping at lemonade stands to support and encourage kids. Paying for the meal of the person behind you in the drive-through – something that happened to Rev. Lambert.
“Somebody in front of us paid for us, and it just changed our whole morning,” she remembered. “It wasn’t very much, and yet we started doing it, and made that a habit.”
By looking for ways to be kind, every day, it becomes second nature.
To help you remember, St. Luke’s is offering everyone a wristband that says The Kindness Project on it. On the inside, it says, “Be Kind Every Day.”
Dr. Long suggested everyone wear the wristband on their right hand to start the day. Then, when you make a conscious decision to do something kind for someone, take it off and move it to your left hand.
“I’m predicting we can get at least 5,000 people to be a part of The Kindness Project,” he said. “I’m going to try, but I probably won’t get 366 (days). But I bet I can get at least 200.
“If we could average 200 (d
ays) and there’s 5,000 of us in this family of faith doing it, that is one million acts of kindness in 2016. Just think what a million acts of kindness would do in our city! The ripple effect, the way it would go on, what a difference we could make.
“Jesus said, ‘A new commandment I give you that you love one another as I have loved you, by this all people will know that you’re my disciples.’ To be His disciple is to make the commitment that we’re going to share His love and bring hope in the world – and we’re going to do it this year through this Kindness Project.”
“I think we all have this capacity to be kind because we’re made in the image of God,” Rev. Lambert said. “When we tap into our connection to God, kindness really flows out of that – and is empowered by that.”
St. Luke’s also created a daily inspirational desk flip calendar that is available for everyone. If you are unable to pick up a Kindness Project wristband, calendar, or window cling at the Welcome Center on Sundays, St. Luke’s will send you one in the mail.
