Love is Kindness

There is a local radio ad in which a wife, trying to convince her husband to buy a new house on a bigger lot in a nicer neighborhood, leaves the living room curtains open so that when her husband gets up to get coffee in the morning, he is embarrassed as he is exposed to the looks and laughs of the neighbors who live so close.  “See, we should move where the lots are bigger, then this wouldn’t be a problem.”  To make matters worse, when he asks her to throw him something to cover himself, she tosses him a dress, embarrassing him further.  She laughs at her cleverness. The ad is very troubling to me.  Loving people do not do that to each other; loving parents don’t deliberately embarrass their children, and  husbands and wives shouldn’t embarrass each other.  It jeopardizes the safety in a relationship, and certainly has no place in a loving relationship; neither do anger nor cruelty. Loving people are kind to each other, thoughtful of each other and considerate. They protect each other’s vulnerabilities, are generous with each other’s weaknesses.  They seek ways to uplift and encourage one another through daily affirmation and tender acts of caring. To me, kindness is the very essence of love, for even if there are conflicts, even if a child needs correction, a loving person will always find a kind way to handle the situation.