Some people are gifted with a rare trait. Through their simple warmth, they bring out the best in people. Their presence alone is a gift to others. The moment they walk in the door, everyone they meet is disarmed. By their goodness. By their kindness. By their calming influence. By their comforting stance. By their sincere concern. By their rapt attention. By their reassuring smile. People feel at ease. Their kindness arrives unedited. Their intuitive sense about people is just fantastic.

Kindness is simply loving people more than they deserve. Someone once said: Kindness always pays but it pays most when you don’t do it for pay. It is heartening to note that there abound in our midst many unnamed, unremembered, unpublicized acts of kindness and love.

Let me share a story that will inspire and encourage you to do little acts of kindness in our everyday life. As we grow older, we admire kind people. Unlike when we were younger, when we admire successful and clever people.

Here’s the story:

“It was a very nasty, stormy night at a small hotel in Philadelphia. An elderly man and woman approached the registration desk. Their question was, “Do you have room for us tonight?” Then, with a slight pause, the woman briefly explained, “We have been to some of the larger hotels, and they are all full.”

“The clerk explained that there were several conventions in town at the time, and indeed no rooms were available anywhere in Philadelphia that particular night. He also pointed out to them that all of the rooms in his hotel were full as well. But the clerk went on, “I wouldn’t feel right about turning you out on such a nasty night. Would you be willing to sleep in my personal room?” The couple was taken aback at the generous offer and didn’t know how to respond. The young man insisted that he would be able to get along just fine if only they would use his room.

“The next day as the elderly couple was checking out, the man told the young clerk. ‘You are the kind of man who should be the boss of the best hotel in the country. Maybe someday, I’ll build one for you.’ They all smiled at the little joke, and then the clerk helped them carry their bags out to the street to load into their car.

“Two years later, the clerk received a letter from the old man. He had almost forgotten the incident, but the letter recalled that night and his kindness. The letter also included a round-trip ticket to New York City with the request that he come to be their guest for a visit.

“When the young clerk reached New York City, there to meet him was the elderly couple. The old man drove him to the corner of the Fifth Avenue and 34th Street and pointed to a beautiful new building. It was like a palace of reddish stone with turrets and watchtowers like a castle. The older man said, ‘That is the hotel I have built for you to manage!’

“‘You must be joking,’ the young man said. He couldn’t believe what he heard.

“The old man said, ‘I’m not joking.’ And simply stood there and smiled.

“The young man asked, ‘Who… who are you that you can do this?’

“‘My name is William Waldorf Astor.’ And the hotel was the original Waldorf-Astoria of New York City. The young clerk’s name is George C. Boldt, and he did become the first manager of this historic hotel!” (As narrated by R. Strand)

This story about human kindness is indeed inspiring. We all have vast opportunities to do acts of kindness while we are enjoying the gift of life. A few kind words to cheer a downhearted person can do a lot. Better than an expensive bouquet of flowers to lay on a person’s coffin after he’s dead. Let us scatter kindness with joy along the way for “we shall pass through this world but once – to quote the immortal words of Stephen Grellet, a French-born Quaker who died in New Jersey in 1855.

Be joyful and kind always!