Small act of kindness day

Dis week ah choose to be guided by de slogan “Small Acts of Kindness” the theme foh a project organized by “SAK,” a Toronto-based group, headed by its founder Kwesi Bibby ah Vincy. Quite timely as Kind-ness is long overdue serious attend-shun. It is now like ah “Bad Word” thrown out de window to mek room foh other “ness” like Selfish-ness, Greedy-ness, Wicked-ness yes, Unforgive-ness, Dishonest-ness, contrary to de instructions given to us by Jesus.{{more}}

Kind-ness is best seen when it comes in Distribute-shun, gift packages, passing out material things, so much so dat when yuh in no position to Give, yuh are dumped in de Wicked-ness basket. “Small Act of Kind-ness” was at its Zenith in SVG during de build up to de December 9th Elect-shuns. Dat’s when de ruling party ULP “give way” some thirteen million dollars ah tax-payers money in Galvanize, Lumber and Cement to citizens, mainly ULP supporters. But ley we rest up de Polly-ticks foh now and deal wid how to deliver Kind-ness when dey’s no Silver or Gold to Give Away or Share!

So how best can we express our Kind-ness, dis simple Deed of Gift widout money, widout price, when we don’t have material to offer. How about Words to begin wid: Words of Wisdom, words of Empowerment, Encouragement. Words of Kind-ness dat Heals de wounded soul, de broken spirit.

Ever heard bout Love? Mighty Sparrow puts it nicely “Can’t Love widout Money, Can’t mek Love on Hungry Belly, Honey yuh de only one ah Love, but sweetheart, No money No Love!” Dat does all time throw Kind-ness out de Window! But Alas! Dey’s de Greatest of dem all, Prayer! Testimonies abound about people who had miracles, de impossible done thru Prayer. Five years ago when ah needed treatment foh Pass-straight Cancer and ah heard what de cost was like, my wife and I turned to Prayer like if Prayer was going out ah style. Yes it came in Words, it came in Cash, it came in material Gifts but best of all my Kindness came thru Prayer.

So dat my first “Small Act of Kind-ness” thru ah Prayer of Thank-full-ness to de Almighty is foh my Cousin Adrian Deane who was freed from charges of Human Trafficking. When he told me his Dilema, de half-ah-side face of Justice dat was being meted out to him by de Police, ah wind up de car-glass and we said ah Prayer of Forgive-ness and Mercy foh de Police. Clearly somebody wanted to mek ah scape-goat of my cousin, hoping to show de USA dat we in SVG vigilant wid Human Trafficking.

My second “Small Act of Kind-ness” is foh de Past-her and his family; incidentally, dey are my in-laws, and foh de victim who was scalded wid boiling water during ah fracass. At times even de most righteous among us, go emptied and void of Godly-ness, and become very much in need ah Spiritual help in whatever Spiritual War-fear we claim we having. Too often Christians out ah ignorance and convenience, mek use ah expressions and quotations from de Bible to cover our multitude ah sins. My Kindness cannot be Condone-ness to Violence in whatever form.

“Small Act of Kind-ness” number four is ah Prayer foh my friend Allan Smith of Allan Smith Family Bakery. Allan is ah man wid ah Kind-heart. He is always willing to give generously to worthwhile causes. Thieves gave him ah heavy blow last Christmas but he is cheerful. Allan and now Bullet, his man on site, keeps me abreast wid de latest products. Dey made my weekend wid two samples of ah Hard Dough Bread, one made wid Sweet Potato, de other from Cassava. These two ingredients have made Hard Dough moist and mellow, quite tasty actually. Dey not paying me foh dis Ad, but ah invite readers to try dem. I am excited about Allan’s effort to marry ah far-reign male name wheat flour wid our local Root Crop girls Sweet-potato and Cassava. De Flour Mill here is yet to utilize our Breadfruit, Banana, Corn, our Sweet Potato, Our-Root and Cassava wid de Wheat. Breadfruit Flour made wid de skin is richer in Vitamins dan Wheat Flour.

And my fifth and final “Small Act of Kind-ness” is ah Prayer of Encouragement foh my Pastor, Adolphus Isaacs of Mespo Gospel Hall. Last weekend, de Church thru an effort spearheaded by de ladies, honoured him foh his sixty-seventh birthday, his forty-sixth year as ah Christian and thirty-fifth year as de Pastor. Ah truly Humble man of God whose Ministry has blossomed. He does it all foh Free, no allowance no nothing! Ah proud Primary School scholar, who delivers his Sermons wid full command ah de Queens English. His messages are Sunday Morning Joy, well researched and enriched wid knowledge. Dis lickle man is never intimidated when he ministers to his membership dat is power-packed wid academics: Farmers to PS; Education Officils, Principals and Head-teaches, Engineers, Medical Student, Lawyer, Accountant, young ole and in between. Highly respected in political circles , ah member of de Public and Police Service Commission dat has brought pride and dignity to his Church Parishioners as well as de Marriaqua Community. He’s not going to be too impressed wid dis exposee, so he could return my Small Act of Kind-ness. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.