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Weeks ago, on All Saints Day (before coming to Gethsemane), I attended one of my dad’s “other” churches, Messiah Methodist in Plymouth. They had invited me to their early service where they were going to honor him, along with other members, in a candle lighting ceremony. My dad wasn’t a member there, but he attended service and bible study’s often, even teaching occasionally. That Sunday, they put his photo on the screen and read his name out loud. After the ritual, the pastor gave her sermon. She talked about the importance of acts of kindness in this world—kindnesses that those we had lit candles for had undoubtably done in service of others. She passed out little wooden tokens to everyone and told us to put them in our right pocket. She encouraged us to do an act of kindness each day, and when we did, to move it to our left pocket. The pastor wasn’t saying that we needed to do these kind acts to be in God’s grace, Jesus covered that for us on the cross, but by doing the ritual of switching the token from pocket to pocket we would become aware of how many times we can actually choose to be kind in any given day.
Well, I tried for a couple days and eventually lost my token. But what I started to do was to think of creative ways that I might not have before, in how to be kind and to serve. I started cleaning house, trying to downsize in all my closet clutter. A friend introduced to a site called Buy Nothing where you can post items that you have and don’t need anymore, and others respond if they need it. You arrange a pick up time and put it out your front door. I found it was a great way to regift many of my fathers possessions that he would have wanted to be treasured by someone else who’d appreciate them more than me. Mugs, books, framed photos of mountains, baseball bobbleheads, and porcelain Clydesdales. Each found great homes with people who said they would cherish or use them.
What I noticed every time I visited the site was how many clothing items were being offered before they were going to Goodwill or the trash. Clothing of all sizes and styles, for all ages. Bags and bags of them. So I started posting in the comments that if any items remained, that I would pick them up. Sure enough I received message after message from people with extra clothing (didn’t fit, not the right style…). I started picking the bags and bins and boxes up and putting them in my husband’s car to bring to the clothing shelf. Easy as that.
When he said that we were in dire need of more kid’s clothing for the shelf, I posted an “ASK” and my neighbors responded quickly that they had just cleaned out closets and had many items to share. Seven jeep loads later, everything made it to the clothing shelf. Days later, they were re-homed with a multitude of families in need. Thrilled by this, I posted a “Gratitude” post for everything donated and received more comments from others wondering if they could donate too. Now, we have another garage stall of items for the shelf. We may need the cargo van to carry them all. My son and daughter helped pick up many of the latest loads (see photos), and it has become a family project. Lately, people are offering to bring over items once they are collected to get them to us as quickly as possible. And everyone I tell this story of the “Buy Nothing donation team” offer to clean out their own closets and donate, too.
What has amazed me most is how easy it has been to expand one act of giving away items, to picking up a few clothes for donations, to an entire community getting on board and wanted to be a part of the fun of giving their things away. It is so obvious that most of us have way too many things, but giving them away may be difficult in the beginning. At first, I didn’t want to give my dad’s things away, it was a hard part of dealing with loss. But when you are a part of a community that gives, like a church or even a Facebook site, giving things away becomes just a part of your day. A simple act of kindness to fill the need of someone else.
I’m not sure where I heard it from but there is a saying that: “if you get something, give something away”. It can work with clothing, food, bobbleheads, and books. It can work with hugs or blessings, or simply opening the door for the person after you. You don’t need a token in your right pocket to remind you to be kind if you stay aware and look around you to see what others need. God has given us, in Jesus, the perfect example to follow. Do unto others, in kindness, in giving.
Amen.
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