Displaying items by tag: acts of kindness

A New York state trooper, Chris Mahoney, at a petrol station, noticed a man carrying several heavy bags. Striking up a conversation, the trooper learned the man was homeless and carried all his belongings on his back. When Mahoney asked him when he’d last eaten, he learned the man had only had a doughnut. When he offered to buy the man a meal, another customer took a photo of his kindness, which went viral. Now, Mahoney encourages more people to do kind things for others. Jesus said we are to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and to love your neighbour as yourself.’

A New York state trooper, Chris Mahoney, at a petrol station, noticed a man carrying several heavy bags. Striking up a conversation, the trooper learned the man was homeless and carried all his belongings on his back. When Mahoney asked him when he’d last eaten, he learned the man had only had a doughnut. When he offered to buy the man a meal, another customer took a photo of his kindness, which went viral. Now, Mahoney encourages more people to do kind things for others. Jesus said we are to ‘love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind and to love your neighbour as yourself.’

In the midst of horrific destruction, where thousands of homes were burnt to the ground by wildfires in Reading California, 67 hospital staff still went to work. All  doctors, nurses, volunteers and office personnel made sure that patient care did not suffer. ‘Some people have slept on the floor,’ the hospital chief executive said. ‘The Reading police chief lost his home, as did two of his officers, but they still went on duty to save others at risk. It was a similar story with at least one firefighter. But it wasn't just the thousands of first responders who put their own loss and devastation to one side and stepped up to help their neighbours. Many ordinary folk took in people who had lost homes, provided food, donated supplies and offered any support that they could. Hollywood movies show society falling apart when disaster strikes, but the opposite happened; people wanted to band together and help.

Monday’s devastating attack in Manchester can cause us to think that there is nothing good in the world. It can feel paralysing not to be able to do anything, but it is good for the soul to hear of small kindnesses. In between spreading fake news, social media has been filled with examples of helpers supporting the emergency services, and their community. Here are some examples:. #RoomForManchester saw people and hotels offering up their spare beds. #Anybody stuck in Manchester tonight I have a spare room and I just made some really nice soup. #I live 5 mins from the Manchester Arena. I have sofa bed, food/drink and phone chargers if anyone needs any help. Cabbies offered their services free to get people back to where they needed to be; some even drove from Liverpool to help. People queued to donate blood, or brewed tea for the police and emergency services still on call.