Do you remember a time when you helped another person for absolutely no reason? Or a time when a total stranger did something nice for you? How did it feel? Great? Odd? Wonderful?

Usually it is easy to be kind and compassionate towards people that you like. You are nice to them and they are nice back to you. Most of us exchange this type of kindness every single day, when we ask a friend how their family members are doing, when we offer to help a co-worker with their project, when we make a donation to our church.

This is not the kindness I am talking about. I mean real spontaneous kindness towards people that you might not even like.

Yesterday I was taking a stroll in the old city center. A tall nicely dressed man in his forties was walking in front of me. What got my attention was not the man, but the huge box of hand-made Belgian chocolates that he was carrying in his hand. A friend had once brought me a smaller box of these chocolates from Luxemburg and they were absolutely delicious. But unfortunately, I could not find them in the local grocery stores. I was just wondering, where he had bought them, when my “voracious” thoughts were distracted by screams and swearing coming from an old woman, sitting on the steps of the church.

Her clothes were dirty and her face was red from fury and probably years of drinking. She had a small plate with a few coins in it that she managed to collect that morning. People walking by were glancing and turning their faces, looking embarrassed, disapproving and even disgusted.

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