“Be Kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” Aren’t those great words? They are also, in many cases, very true words. This saying originated with a Scottish writer, Ian Maclaren, which was actually a pen name for Rev. John Watson, a Presbyterian pastor from Scotland in the late 1800s and early 1900s. What’s really interesting is that the original wording was, “Be pitiful, for every man is fighting a hard battle.”
In our day we interpret the word “pitiful” to mean pathetic or sad. However, in Rev. Watson’s day it meant to be full of pity or to have compassion. Thus, the modern-day version that I started out this article with.
The reason Rev. Watson wrote this sentence was because of a request in 1897 from a London Newspaper called The British Weekly. The year was 1897 and the newspaper contacted various dignitaries of the day and asked them to write a message for publication for the Christmas edition of the paper. Rev. Watson was one of the dignitaries.
While others wrote articles and essays, Rev. John Watson wrote one sentence and submitted it, “Be Kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” This was a message that was needed not just in the UK but in the entire world. The newspaper described their age as one of stress, conflict, selfish striving, and merciless competition.
That one sentence about kindness was reprinted, world-wide, time and time again in the coming year, with many comments being made that those words were exactly what the world needed.
It seems to me that those same descriptive words could define the age that we live in today. That’s why our church, Downtown Mitchell First UMC, along with many churches across the nation, is participating in the “Kindness Campaign.” This is a campaign to highlight Jesus’ message, asking his followers to “Love one another.” Jesus said that as people of faith, that is how we will be identified or known, by how we live out love for one another.
This Kindness Campaign is held every two years in an election year to remind people not to focus on or participate in the ugliness that often accompanies elections, but rather, we need to focus on kindness and treating one another with dignity and humanity. So, if you see someone wearing a T-shirt that says, “Love One Another,” it all started with a Presbyterian minister in London who challenged the people of his day to “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” Good words to remember and live today.
PS – If you ordered one of the T-Shirts with the “Love One Another” message, they will be available this Sunday at Worship. We do have a limited number of extra shirts that we ordered. Call Tonya at the office or stop by the display table on Sunday to see if we have any extra ones available. We are encouraging everyone who purchased this years T-Shirt to wear it on the first Sunday of November. If you don’t have the new one but have the T-Shirt from two years ago for the Kindness Campaign, I’d encourage you to wear that one.
Pastor Keith