2 – Provide Something Wonderful for Someone to Find
Can every life experience be considered an act of kindness? Could this reveal something about the nature of the universe?
In Annie Dillard’s “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,” she shared a childhood habit of hiding pennies for others to find, leaving whimsical chalk directions leading to the treasure. Dillard marveled at the world’s unwrapped gifts and free surprises, viewing it as studded with pennies generously scattered from a benevolent hand.
Perhaps countless acts of kindness await discovery, orchestrated by a user-friendly universe — what Dillard termed a generous hand. We, as individuals, may serve as vehicles for each other’s needs, all guided by this friendly universe.
With this perspective, each day becomes like a birthday, brimming with gifts to unwrap, from a stranger’s smile to the post-rain scent of the street.
Yet Dillard’s question, “Who gets excited by a mere penny?” highlights our tendency to undervalue seemingly small experiences. If that’s the case, embracing a sense of healthy poverty and simplicity, where even a penny can make your day, we come to possess a lifetime of such days.
Now imagine that these pennies have been hidden by a child infused with youthful wisdom and purity, with signs reading, “SURPRISE AHEAD!”
How wonderful does the world look now?
NEXT STEP: Theme #3
Kind Living 