I was pushing my shopping cart loaded with a week’s worth of groceries out of the store the other day when I suddenly heard, "Wait Dad you forgot!", behind me. My oldest son then ran up, grabbed the separate bag of groceries that we had put into our cart for the local food bank, and hurried over to the collection barrel with a happy smile on his face.

As I watched him my mind flashed back to another Autumn afternoon 13 years ago. I was keeping an eye on him and his younger sister as they played in the leaves under a tree outside a local mission. Laid off from work with no money in the bank and little food in the house, I held their sleeping, baby brother in my arms while my wife went in to get enough groceries from the mission’s food bank to see us through another few days. I remember smiling at her as she came out carrying a bag very similar to the one my son was now dropping in the donation barrel. It felt good then knowing that there were such kind people in the world and it felt even better now being able to complete the circle of kindness that once touched our lives.

This world is full of circles of kindness. They begin with a single act of kindness, one loving gift, or one helping hand. Then they travel from heart to heart, soul to soul, and life to life. They are passed on with love and accepted with happiness until they circle the globe and find their way back to the one who started them. It is joy to start them, to be a part of them, and to complete them as well. They remind you that we are all "one" here and they fill your soul with God’s love and Heaven’s light.

Start a few circles of kindness going today then. Share what you have and who you are. Give your food, your money, your time, your work, your love and your smile. Do so with a happy and peaceful heart. Let the good you do circle the world on the wings of love now and forever.

© Joseph J. Mazzella
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