counterbalancing the forces of evil with inconsequential acts of kindness is IN!
I am rarely disappointed. Here's one randomly-selected post and quote from it: "I believe we are meaning-seeking creatures, and these feelings of meaning, relational and connective, are almost always located within kindness. Kindness is the force that draws us together, and this, Beau, is what I think I am trying to sayĀ ā€“Ā that despite our collective state of loss, and our potential for evil, there exists a great network of goodness, knitted together by countless everyday human kindnesses. TheseĀ often small, seemingly inconsequential acts of kindness, that Soviet writer Vasily Grossman callsĀ ā€˜petty, thoughtless kindnessā€™, orĀ ā€˜unwitnessed kindnessā€™Ā bind together to create a subterranean and vanquishing Good that counterbalances the forces of evil and prevents suffering from overwhelming the world. We reach out and find each other in the common darkness. ByĀ doing so we triumph over our collective and personal loss. Through kindness we slant, shockingly and miraculously, toward meaning. We discover, in that smallest gesture of goodwill laid at the feet of our mutual and monumental loss,Ā ā€˜the pointā€˜. Love, Nick" Please never give up hope in humanity! The "unwitnessed kindnesses" that Nick refers to not only demonstrate care, but also manifest a kind of love within us that is bigger than religion. When I think about "God," I think about our capacity for that love. That to me IS God. ā¤ļø
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Mar 24, 2025
Mar 24, 2025

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inflection points help give our life definition, showing us what we stand for, what we oppose, how we handle conflict. i was reminded of this chatting with Nick for this week's newsletter. it's about tennis and travel and Challengers. but really it's about how passionate people persist no matter what. i think you'll really like it.
Aug 30, 2024
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This is probably going to be part of a larger suite of small actions that I try to do intentionally:Ā to reclaim equilibrium. I've been thinking about the U.S.A. presidential election and considering the question "Now what for me?" (There are some thoughtful posts and replies on this theme out there, like this one from royallmonarch and this ask from llq and many others that are worthy of your attention.) (And, realistically, while some readers of this post are grieving and terrified, others may be relieved and hopeful, while many are simply disconnected or apathetic. This rec is politically agnostic.) But to the question of "What now for me?" orĀ "How then shall we live?" I find myself drawn toward small acts that both serve others in my immediate spheres of influence and put a gentle exclamation mark on the person that I want to be. Regardless of if you are mourning or dancing today, you still have great power in the world around you. My challenge to me, at least for a little while, is to stop watching the horrors on the horizon and see the opportunities in my path. A good word to someone feeling discouraged. A meal purchased for the hungry. An unexpected act of service. Apologizing when I don't have to or forgiving when I'm justified in not. Letting someone take my spot in line. A quiet revolution of uncelebrated kindness. Listening to truly understand.
Nov 6, 2024
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It's been a time of great emotional upheaval lately, kicking up old dirt, airing out miasmas, the works. I feel like it's a time of good change, working towards something bigger, and coming out the other side feeling more in my skin. The issue lies with the compulsion to devotion and in a sense religion with it all. I grew up culturally Methodist, but never identified fully with the religion. There was a period where I denied any and all religion out of spite to the institution I was in, there was a period I desperately wanted to believe in guidance or some power watching over me, but it eventually settled to agnosticm. That's where I lay, that's where I've been. Until lately, where Ive felt a pull to explore that side again. It began with a compulsion to draw the natural order, the intertwining of human and animal behaviour. I never knew what I was drawing, or what any of it meant, I just knew it was something bigger than my own words, and it had to be out of me otherwise it would burn a hole through me. I picked up the music of Ethel Cain, ever the sucker for religious imagery, but her music and approach has made me question things. I feel drawn towards a devotion, not necessarily towards the Christian gods or organized religion as a whole but something bigger, more ancient//primal than that? Maybe there is a god in the world, the sun, the gravitational pull, the trees, the water, the butterflies, EVERYTHING IS A CIRCLE. Ritual, giving myself up in a way brings a form of floating comfort, autonomy? I don't know how to describe it. It's been on my mind, i've been pretty vocal about it, and also my newfound love//fixation on Ethel Cain. I don't know. part of me wonders if maybe people think this whole schtick I'm on is derivative of this music fixation and in a way a performance evoked by the music. i don't quite know why it matters to me, i guess I'm just worried my friends are getting sick of it. i do not feel like the same person, there is something much bigger than all of us, even if it is not omniscient or heavenly, it is not us.
Mar 25, 2025

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i love this community! Everyone is so lovely
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