Back in 1984, I went on interrail across Europe for three weeks on my own. I ended up in Munich after a week in France and Holland and eventually I went as far as Pompei.
Anyway, I was a student at the time so I slept on trains, in railway stations, and in hostels. In Munich at the time, you could sleep in a large circus tent for a pittance. I slept fine. Funny thing is, I don’t always sleep well in hotels nowadays.
The next morning I was at a bus stop to get back into town. A smiley older lady said “hello” to me and offered me a sweet. It’s something that’s always stuck out in my mind. The Irish have a reputation for being friendly, but I don’t have many memories like that in Ireland. And I suppose I’m not awfully friendly myself either. I do remember not being able to start the car in Donegal once. A guy saw me and came along with jump leads and started it for me. Again, I vividly remember that. I think of the words of Jesus:
Matthew 25:40
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
Back in 1984, it was just 40 years since World War 2. So that lady, who might have been around 60 in 1984, would have been a young woman during the war, when such awful things were happening. It always delights me when I think of how Germany and Japan utterly transformed soon after the end of the war. And they became the sorts of nations that we always looked up to when I was growing up.
Then, I look at current bitter conflicts around the world when the “losers” are full of hatred and resentment and go on to commit all sorts of atrocities against innocent people. I pray that they too will be transformed. I particularly feel sorry for the children brought up to model themselves on terrorists or to think that they’ll receive some heavenly reward for being nasty or cutting off their noses to spite their faces. How much better the world would be if people learned to be more loving. It’s particularly distressing to see religious people being hateful. Perhaps that’s why John Lennon imagined a world without religion. But I think it’s more about people using religion or politics as a stick to beat people with. The evil lies in hearts, not in weapons.
Here are a few songs and hymns about kindness:
Hibernia Gospel 