July 2025

Letter from the Committee

Kindness

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” 

Samuel Clemens (better known as Mark Twain) succinctly captured the transcendent quality of the fifth Fruit of the Spirit, don’t you think? When was the last time you were tenderly surprised by a random act of kindness? Hold onto that memory. How did it make you feel? Did you marvel at the surprise or kindness itself? Did it open your eyes to notice more about the people around you? Did it unlock your own kindness toward others?

Society at large, but especially the Church, intuitively recognizes the general morality of kindness. However, we must also remind ourselves that this valued trait is an unshifting characteristic of our Father, expressed to us every single day.

Psalm 145:14-17: “The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food in due season. You open Your hand; You satisfy the desire of everything living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works.”

The raiment of His kindness can take on many different forms, but His kindness is fundamentally infused into all He does. 

Picture a boxer who receives a crushing blow to the temple and collapses. The referee begins his paced count to ten… and as the fighter struggles to determine up from down, where is his trainer? He gets as close to the fighter’s ears as possible, breaks through the crowd’s chorus and the confusion of pain, and speaks the message that empowers that fighter to rise again and fight on. When life puts us in the fighter’s knock-out, drag-out dance, the Lord’s kindness in our ears (sometimes shouting, sometimes whispering) is what rallies us to continue.

Picture a child who holds up a hand with a large splinter protruding from their palm. Where is their parent? They carefully hold the child and cradle the injured limb, preparing to remove the foreign material. The child cries and fearfully pulls away, but is coaxed to surrender to the splinter’s removal, as their tentative trust begs gentleness through the painful process. When life leaves us particularly vulnerable, the Lord’s precise, patient, and soft kindness opens the door to our deepest healing.

This month, we invite you to ponder these questions: 

1. Where can you spot the Lord’s kindness in your life most recently? Celebrate it in gratitude.

2. Who needs your kindness today? Prayerfully step out in this opportunity. 

3. What corner of your heart needs the Lord’s kindness? Invite His presence into it.

   
   

Your Stoa Alumni Committee,

Samuel Durand (AR), Nicole Kaiser (MT), Alyssa Sloneker (AR), Denise Sprimont-Vasquez (VA), Elizabeth Stapleton (OK), and David Vasquez (VA)

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