One motivation for surprising people with something good is the sheer joy of it. This article, which seems rather sniveling in its tone, fails even to mention joy.

Why not be genuinely grateful that, in this intensely conflicted world, all kinds of people sometimes find delight in surprising strangers with acts of kindness? The author fails to mention gratitude, either.

Isn't God himself is delighted to convey unexpected blessings from time to time?
"Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children" (Eph. 5:1 ESV).

-------------------------------

"By itself, kindness is one note," says the author. Yet kindness takes many lovely forms, does it not? And why assert that acts of kindness "come up short because they are kindness, not love." Cannot kindness be a manifestation of love? How can one fruit of the Spirit "come up short" relative to another?

When I came home this evening, I was surprised to see my neighbor putting my trash cans away after they had been out on the street since morning for garbage pickup. In sum, her kind and simple gesture was far more delightful and more meaningful than reading this sanctimonious piece.