Being Kind To The Same Kind

The word ‘kind’ comes from Old English gecynde, which meant ‘nature, natural order’ and also ‘innate character’ and ‘a class or race distinguished by innate characteristics’. Things that are of the same kind have the same nature, the same characteristics. Therefore, being kind to someone, or treating someone with kindness, is to recognize that the person we are being kind to has the same nature, the same characteristics as we do. They are the same kind of thing that we are, and thus we are gentle and benevolent and caring toward them. We are both the same kind of thing and have the same innate characteristics, therefore we treat each other with respect and dignity and compassion. If we are struggling to be kind to someone, especially to those to whom we are closest, then we need to look a little deeper. We can easily get caught up in superficial differences but if we look past the haze of moods and attitudes and personality quirks then we will see deep down that we are all of the same nature, of the same kind, and thus we should be kind to one another. We are all in the same boat. All of us are struggling with limited resources and limited capacity and limited information to make our own lives and the world around us a better place and all of us have faced trauma and challenges that we failed to overcome and have developed coping mechanisms that are detrimental to our own and others’ well-being and happiness, but inside each of us is the light of Christ, the will to struggle and overcome, the hope that tomorrow will be better than today, and the mercy and capacity to be kind to one another. We can be kind to each other because we know deep down that we are the same kind of thing, and deserve the same kind of breaks, the same kind of understanding, the same kind of patience, the same kind of love. We are all one humankind, so let us be kind humans.