Seeing What Isn't There

“Hope and faith sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”

I could not have said it better myself. As I have been trying to make it clear with my previous blog posts, having faith in God or whatever higher being you believe in is more than just believing in something you can physically see. You can’t see it at all, but with the faith and hope you do, you see what cannot be seen. No, I have not physically seen God Himself, so you may be thinking how can I have faith in something I have never seen? Well, to tell you the truth I have seen God in the acts of kindness I have encountered. I feel God in the positive vibes people give off. And I have achieved everything I have thus far because of the faith I have in myself, the belief I have in God and that things happen for a reason.

Getting into the subject of faith and acts of kindness, I want to talk about Lenten season. It started just a couple of weeks ago and for those who don’t know what Lent is, it is a period of forty days leading up to Easter that starts with Ash Wednesday.  During Lent, many Christians and Catholics do some sort of fast.  A lot of people I know give up some of their favorite things, for example some of my friends have given up: fast food, sweets, soda, facebook, etc. sometimes the meaning of fasting is lost in the act itself rather than what it means to give it up. Lent is a time for penitence and the reason for the fasting is to follow in Jesus’ footsteps who was on a forty day and forty night fast leading up until his crucifixion.

I have taken it upon myself to do more than just give something up.  Despite missing my late night trips to Del Taco—I gave up fast food—or my almost daily serving of cookies with milk—I also gave up cookies—I have chosen to try and do one kind act a day.  This may seem a little difficult for some, but I think this is something all people should try.   Rather than getting too involved with my daily stresses, and myself I have made it a point to do at least one small thing for something else.  I’ll have to admit, I may not have done it everyday since Ash Wednesday (February 17^th) I have tried none the least.  Sometimes I’ll make sure to keep the door open for the person walking behind me, say hi to a random stranger, or volunteer my time and help tutor children.   

In the midst of trying to keep up with doing nice things, I’ve realized that acts of kindness are not selfless because I always seem to feel better, not selfishly about myself for the sole purpose of doing something good. But I feel better because I see the reactions of those who I have helped. Just last week I went to the shelter I volunteer at on Wednesdays and played with the students there. Simple things like turning the jump rope for them or helping them get a math problem correct were very rewarding. Their smiles are what made everything worthwhile.  I could tell the children appreciated my presence there and knowing that I could do something to help them made me feel good.

So going back to what I originally discussed about what Lent truly means, it’s more than just following the easy way out of giving something up, doing something out of the kindness of your heart is really what its about and seeing the reactions you can get from your actions helps put things in perspective.