Kindness Deeds

 

A book published in 1993 entitled “Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty”  made a plea for people to practice kindness as the book’s title implies. Groups were organized to find ways of applying kindness in daily lives. This is good, I thought—as long as there were people out there to do those things—not me

Then an event rattled my passive-aggressive attitude. I  was eating my breakfast in the dining room of the retirement facility where I lived when another resident tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Here, you dropped this.” It was my Covid 19 mask which had fallen to the floor when I removed it to eat. I mumbled a half-hearted thanks, and in a few minutes reality awakened me. That person walked nearly the whole length of the dining room to pick up and hand me my mask. It is hard to imagine anything that meets the idea of (random acts of kindness” better than this.

Another thought followed; I remembered from distant past the expression, “Kindness begets kindness.” A little research revealed that this statement is often attributed to Sophocles, fifth century B.C.  playwright. And it seems to be a truism lasting all those centuries to the present time. it suggested that the desire or willingness to perform acts of kindness can be applied or strengthened by repeated exposure to kind acts of others. Certainly, a parent’s kind act will pass on to a child, a teacher’s to a student, a supervisor’s to a worker, and even an officer’s to a soldier’s.

I have always been impress by a story coming from the Battle for Gallipoli in Turkey in World War 1.The British, French, Australians and New Zealanders fought the Turkish/Ottomans with no signifant advances but heavy casualties. During the battle, a Turkish soldier was seen carrying an enemy soldier to a place for help for his wounds. A statue in Gallipoli memorializes this events.

 

Gillopli Monument

 

We can only speculate about the many people in this soldier’s life that implanted this idean of kindness acts—parents, siblings teachers, clergy other soldiers, to name a few.

 

                                                         HAMILTON    

The musical Hamilton opened on Broadway in August 2015 and began several road performances In November, 2016  It received high acclaim for its depiction of epic events in colonial times blended with contemporary culture. Sellout performances continued until March 2020 when all performances were closed because of the Corona virus which affected and imperiled the whole nation.

While performances by the original cast were being performed, the Disney Company made a high quality video of the performance, thankfully will preserve the musical for all time. Although I did not attend a live performance, I was fortunate  to have an opportunity to watch the video. Admittedly, some of the of the fast-moving dialog went right over my head. Some of my friends related a similar experience. So what was the play about? What gives Alexander Hamilton  hero status in history? Or was it too distant and irrelevant to be worthwhile?

I began a search for information about Hamilton and people and events surrounding him. Some of which I remembered from school days. His accomplishments were gigantic. As an immigrant from The Caribbean Hamilton joined the army and works his way up the ranks until he became the aide de camp of general Washington. After the war Washington was elected president and appointed Hamilton as the first secretary of the Treasury. In this capacity Hamilton established the federal banking system and the first Bank of the United States. He also established the Coast Guard and strengthened the army and Navy. I began to search for information about

People often remember from their schoolbooks that Alexander Hamilton had a dual with Aaron Burr in which Hamilton was killed. While interesting, this event would not nearly as significant as Hamilton's participation in the formation of the  United states constitution. In the period from 1775 to 1789, a debate raged between the states which wanted maximum power to be held by the individual states (confederation) and the states that wanted the power to be held in the central government (Federalism). Three men, Hamilton, future president James Madison and future chief justice of the Supreme Court , John Jay,  analyzed,\and debated the issues and prepared 90 papers (“the Federalist  Papers”) documenting the analyses. The framers of the U.S. Constitution referred extensively to these papers (later bound into a book and preserved in the national archives

The intense debate between Federation and Federalism led to the format which was adopted In the Constitution. This format has been referred to as a “Dual sovereignty” having one set of laws for the states dealing with matters internal to individual states and another set for the Federal for matters across state boundaries and those involving foreign countries. The federal government is not permitted to assume any authorities assigned to the state governments as enumerated in the Constitution.The people elect the executives and legislators at both levels.  This government model didn’t exist at the time of the preparation of our Constitution, and is said to be admired worldwide.

A beauty of the Hamilton musical is in the diverse elements it combines. People with widely diverse interests—drama, contemporary music and political science—can sit together enjoying their primary interest while having exposure to the others. This certainly is one reason the musical has been so remarkably successful.  Hopefully, it will enjoy an exceptionally long run when theaters can open again.

 

 

                                                                 An inspiration

We should begin the new year with optimism for coming out of the darkness of 2020 and into new light where a better country and world can emerge.

An event in my memory gave me a long-lasting inspiration and a belief that difficult hurdles can be overcome when there is the proper faith and determination applied. Years ago (quite a number of them), skiing at Mammoth ski resort in the Sierras of California. I, had for a reason I don’t recall, departed from my friends and was skiing alone. AsI slalomed unhurriedly down a favorite slope, taking in the ambience of this world of white, I noticed in the corner of my eye a skier apparently following me. I maintained occasional glances back to observe the movement patterns of this person.

I stopped to rest and I noticed this person stopping about twenty yards behind me. Okay, apparently no  intention of making contact, so I continued. Again, he/she appeared to be following me. Nearing the bottom of the hill, I stopped to consult my trail map to find another area where I might re-connect with my friends. Now, this skier stopped very close to me. I turned around to see a young woman wearing a bib which read BLIND SKIER.

“I hope I didn’t spook you’, she said, “I was using the red of your jacket to help me navigate’.

I assured her that it didn’t bother me. Then I commented about her bravery in skiing without a guide. guide.

“Oh, I have a guide, but I excused him this morning. I wanted to feel the challenge of skiing alone. I think I’ve done quite well”.

I asked if she would like to ski a few runs with me and she accepted. That began some memorable conversation. On the lift ride up she told me she was in her senior year at a Los Angeles college in pre law. After graduation in the spring, she hoped that she would be accepted by a law school where she had maintained contact for a couple of years. She said she had very good grades. Amazing, I thought. That can be a challenge for anyone with good eyesight. But her? I asked what kind of an attorney she wanted to be, half-expecting her to say trial lawyer, but she said some form of child advocacy.

We talked about early skiing days where we experienced crossed ski tips, falls, faceplants, ,agonizing getting up plastered with snow that a beginning skier experiences. She said it was a nightmare for her. She would fall, get up and try again and fall again in spite of her instructor’s help. The next day brought the same agony and more days where she was ready to give up skiing. But she made a few more attempts and one day she felt the skis in control as she had wanted them to be. From that time on she felt steady improvement until at the end of the season, she found herself having a great time skiing. I observed she was now a good intermediate level skier.

As we parted, I felt in awe of what the human spirit can achieve. I didn’t get contact information from her, but I have often wished to know about her school and professional progress. However, I continue to envision her life as inordinately successful