From the Chaplains

Remember to include a few ‘Random Acts of Kindness’ in your Christmas list this year!

Last week was World Kindness Day. In Senior School Chapel the Wellbeing Prefects, Emily and Alex, encouraged all the students to write messages of appreciation to the teachers, and we talked about the Magi, or as they are commonly called the ‘Wise Men’ or the ‘Three Kings.’ These mysterious strangers, who we read about in the book of Matthew, travelled from the east and brought gifts to the Baby Jesus in what was, quite possibly, the earliest documented ‘random act of kindness.’ 

I describe it this way because there was randomness to the visit and kindness demonstrated through the gift giving. The Magi did not know the Holy Family. They had travelled on instinct following a mysterious star. Given the uncertain nature of their travel there was no way for them to know what gift would be appropriate. The gifts they gave (gold, frankincense and myrrh) were strange yet practical and meaningful. They were chosen on arrival from the many treasures that they carried with them.

Talking about the Magi in chapel on World Kindness Day got me thinking about gifts and giving at Christmas.

Often our giving at Christmas is not random. It is planned. If you are like me, you have a list of people that you need to buy for, and increasingly a list of things to buy that the gift recipient has requested. This has an aspect of ‘kindness’ and there are many benefits to this system, and I am not suggesting that we change it. Giving and receiving gifts that are planned, valued and meaningful bring great joy to me and those I love.

But I wonder if I am missing out on the ‘random’ joy of gift giving that is different from this?

The giving of gifts to those who do not expect it.

The giving of gifts to those who I discover as I seek opportunity and possibility.  

The giving of gifts from the treasures that I carry with me every day- my love, my words, my actions, my resources, my hopes and even my fears.

The giving of gifts that are practical as well as meaningful.

This week I want to encourage you to think about what these gifts may be for you and to start to plan a different kind of Christmas gift list.

This list might include a telephone call, rather than a text message to someone you haven’t spoken to in a while. Or sending an old-fashioned Christmas card in the post. Your list may include cooking a meal or prepare some delicious, sweet treat for a friend or a loved one just because you can. Or picking them a bunch of flowers from your garden. It might include an intentional time to say thank you to someone who has been kind to you this year.

Or maybe, like the Magi, your gift is given to someone you will know about, but never see flourish and grow through it’s generosity. Some examples here may be a donation to Pymble’s Jacaranda Day Christmas Appeal or the Uniting World’s Everything in Common Gift Appeal.

Whatever you include in your ‘random’ and ‘kind’ giving list this year, my wish is that like the Magi you are blessed and enriched through the experience.

Danielle Hemsworth-Smith

College Chaplain