Chain of Love

During the December 2009 Salvation Army bucket campaign in three Indiana cities, someone dropped  a pure gold South African coin worth around  $1,000, and for one city it was the third year in a row it had happened. It happened in Clovis, New Mexico, too. While Salvation Army goals  around the country may not have been met, the anonymous donations were welcomed as a random acts of kindness which created a chain of caring, sharing and of love.

The concept of the random act of kindness was the key to the plot of the 2000 movie, Pay it Forward, based on the novel by Catherine Ryan Hyde.  In the movie, Trevor McKinney, played by Haley Joel Osment, takes a class project to a point where there is a chain reaction of goodness  around the country, which has a positive affect beyond the school.

In August 24, 1999, Clay Walker released the song, Chain of Love, on his Live, Laugh, Love album. The song by Rory Lee and Jonnie Barnett centers on a series of random acts of kindness which create a circle of events in which both those who give and those who receive benefit in a positive way- a chain of love.

Dr. Kent M. Keith is a dynamic speaker and writer whose mission is to help people find personal meaning in a crazy world. Dr. Keith has given over 900 presentations, conference papers, and seminars. His presentations and seminars are focused on servant leadership and finding personal meaning at home and at work.

Keith is known nationally and internationally as the author of the Paradoxical Commandments, which he wrote and published in 1968 in a booklet for student leaders. His book, Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments was published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons in April 2002, and became a national bestseller.
The Paradoxical Commandments by Kent M. Keith
1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
7. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway.
© Copyright Kent M. Keith 1968, renewed 2001.  For more information, go to www. paradoxical commandments.com.
These are good ideas and the chain of love will benefit those who give and those to receive the random act of kindness.  The chorus of the song, Chain of Love, explains it better than I can:
You don’t owe me a thing, I’ve been there too
Someone once helped me out,
Just the way I’m helping you
If you really want to pay me back,
Here’s what you do
Don’t let the chain of love end with you

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy 

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

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