Recently I have come across a new favorite movie. In the latest version of Cinderella, you meet a girl who encounters the tragic loss of her parents and, just like the classic, is left to live under the harsh conditions of a harsh step parent. What always has struck me about this film is the resounding message throughout the tale. Whether it’s offering kindness to the small mice in her quarters or finding herself in the presence of royalty, her response was always that of the advice her mother leaves her on a premature death bed. Her mother tells her, “Have courage and be kind.” This is a phrase that has been left echoing through my mind over the past week. Maybe it is my heart for justice, looking at how the actions of others will affect my children and my children’s children, or seeing large problems and not knowing where to begin with solutions.
More than anything today, I’m thinking this is a great place to start. Simple yes, but it is an good place to start. To begin with love, to have courage and stand in the gap, and to be kind to those I encounter.