Kindness leads

Elmer walked past me with a small stick in his hand, and it grazed my foot. At nearly two, my flinch caught his rapt attention & he turned back to me.
 I was certain in that moment that he would scrape me again with the stick. He's such a little boy & I thought he would be eager to reproduce the results of the first scrape.... I watched him as he tenderly bent his tiny body and kissed my foot before walking away...  & I don't know why the softness of his response moved me so much.
Sloan & I were talking about kindness the other day & she said, with the certainty of one who has tasted the truth of their own words, "changing parts of your personality is hard.."
"But I'm so glad it's possible..." I replied.
"I know. I've done it..."
& we can learn, can't we? To be kind? To kiss the wounds inflicted by ourselves or others... to minister to the hurting, to pause mid-stride and heed the whispering admonition of a loving Father who bids us to become holy...