In her book, Writing to Change the World, Mary Pipher asks writers to consider various questions to help us understand ourselves better. One of her questions is this:
What do you most respect in others?
Immediately, I knew.
It’s kindness.
In other words, benevolence. In other words, the willingness to want, with every interaction, to help others and to love them. I find kindness irresistible. I’d rather have kind children than smart, talented, or beautiful ones. I’d rather be known as kind than clever.
It’s kindness. I pray for this character trait to grow in me and my family more and more.