160th Edition
Encouragement
In the past three years this is only my second blog about encouragement. The first was in October 2024 after Hurricane Helene. I wrote about the amazing response from people all over our country who came to help those devastated by the thousand-year storm. So, in keeping with the saying that no person has ever said, “Gee, I’m getting too much encouragement,” I thought it was time for another one.
The purpose of my earlier blog was to express my sincere gratitude to all the people who responded quickly and came to the aid of those in western North Carolina who lost everything in the storm. I found the overwhelming courage and faithfulness of the people I met, in the face of this epic disaster, profoundly encouraging. I’d like to change the focus in this second blog, from writing about selfless acts that might encourage us all, to identifying people today who we might make an effort to encourage. Pause for a moment and think about all the people who might appreciate a little encouragement… The list is virtually endless, isn’t it?
Perhaps we should first start with all those who are struggling in some way. They sure need encouragement. Then we might turn toward our youth, with all their hopes and dreams of the future. How much more can they accomplish if we tell them we believe in them? Then we might reach out and connect with anyone that is providing a service to us. The man keeping the produce aisle well-stocked. The woman diligently making sushi, who smiles every time I see her. The flight attendant who remains pleasant despite dealing with travelers who tend not to be. And certainly, the person who cleans the bathroom deserves our encouragement.
A word of encouragement goes beyond simply saying thank you. It acknowledges the diligence and pride so many people incorporate into how they go about their day-to-day responsibilities. We naturally thank people for a job well done, but it may be more meaningful to encourage someone after they fail to meet our expectations. Let me share a quick story. On a recent trip, the flight home was delayed because a flight attendant was late. My first impulse was to be angry. But as I waited, another thought entered my mind. I imagined this female flight attendant taking care of a sick child or elderly mother and rushing as fast as she could through city traffic to get to a job she desperately needed to take care of her family. My imagination tends to work in strange ways sometimes. Perhaps I had the situation all wrong and she was just lazy and irresponsible. In either case, wouldn’t a word of encouragement help the situation?
In every interaction, give some thought to offering encouragement. It’s hard to be angry when you have that mindset. I’ve learned that firsthand.
On a grander scale, I’m wondering whether we have a responsibility to encourage people we don’t know personally and likely will never meet. How about the men and women in our military? How about our elected officials, locally and nationally? Surely, they deserve our encouragement, but in what fashion can it be offered? Prayer might be the obvious method, but it would help, I think, if it were a sincere prayer. Sincerity might come easier for men and women in harm’s way, but not so readily for elected officials from the other side.
Does prayer make a difference? That’s way above my pay grade, but I do know that praying sincerely for someone, especially someone I may not like very much, changes me. Somewhere in the process of a heartfelt prayer comes the realization that God’s love is unconditional. He loves all of us whether we like each other or not. Through diligent, sincere prayer, we can absorb a small portion of God’s love and direct it toward that person we despise. There are no limits to God’s grace and no limits to our ability to share it with others.
Try this. Make a list of the people for whom you would be least likely to pray. Next, pray for them each day for a month. Then send me an email about your experience. We are all in this together.
Please help me grow my readership by forwarding this to a friend(s). In the meantime, stay tuned for my next newsletter. Thanks!
Michael Kayes
*These views are my personal opinions and are not the viewpoints of any company or organization.