Powerless, Senseless Kindness

Published by: James A Pearson
October 25, 2011

I struggle with optimism. The suffering in the world is overwhelming if you allow yourself to notice it. How many thousands daily die the senseless deaths of poverty—malnutrition, preventable disease, the tipping over of a truck that is one’s only option for transportation?

How many billions live lives of a sort of quiet desperation that even Thoreau did not envision? The daily struggle for food and water and shelter being all-consuming. The work of staying alive eclipsing what we might call the work of living.

Yesterday in Uganda I saw a man, probably 60 years old, riding an old steel bike up a hill. Strapped to the back were heavy sacks of charcoal. And on the man’s face, as he was passed by all variety of vehicles, was the saddest, wisest look I have seen. The terrible coming-to-terms of a man with a fate that lies far below his capacity.

Those who do have ‘enough’ wage wars of religion, wars of relationship, wars of pride and greed and opportunity. Big international wars and small interpersonal wars. Wars against each other and wars within themselves.

Life is not given special treatment on our planet. Life struggles. The elements wear down life far more quickly than they do a stone.

But against what often seem terrible odds, life persists. Mothers have babies and teach them to be good. Babies grow and try to make a difference. People find each other and commit to love each other for life. Communities gather to encourage and support and build safety nets for one another. People care for each other.

Somewhere deep in this human thing is a drive to care, a realization that alone before this universe we will perish, but together, somehow, we will persist. And so kindness blooms. Kindness in the face of lives too short, kindness in the slums of poverty, kindness across all manner of political, cultural and religious divides.

Kindness because it is the admission that I need you, and that you need me. And that whether we would have chosen it this way or not, we are together on this planet right now, and that this is how human beings must live if we are to live at all.

This quote from Vassily Grossman, whose history I do not know well, is honest about the struggle of humanity. And it is nonetheless optimistic, assuring us that within humanity is a light that will not be extinguished, no matter the difficulty or duration of the struggle. And that is why I love it.

“I have seen that it is not man who is impotent in the struggle against evil, but the power of evil that is impotent in the struggle against man. The powerlessness of kindness, of senseless kindness, is the secret of its immortality. It can never be conquered. The more stupid, the more senseless, the more helpless it may seem, the vaster it is. Evil is impotent before it. The prophets, religious teachers, reformers, social and political leaders are impotent before it. This dumb, blind love is man’s meaning.

Human history is not the battle of good struggling to overcome evil. It is a battle fought by a great evil, struggling to crush a small kernel of human kindness. But if what is human in human beings has not been destroyed even now, then evil will never conquer.”
- Vassily Grossman, as quoted in Chris Hedges’ “Empire of Illusion“

http://jamesapearson.com/?p=227 Powerless, Senseless Kindness » James A. Pearson

[...] friends over at Plywood were kind enough to publish a piece I wrote about one of my favorite quotes. Here’s an excerpt: Life is not given special treatment on [...]
http://voyem.com/ Shanley Knox

This was so necessary for me today – thank you! I continue to love your writing.
http://twitter.com/jamesapearson James A Pearson

Thanks Shanley. Very glad these ideas resonated with you.
http://twitter.com/littlelubbe05 Deborah Lubbe

James, thank you so much for this. This past week I saw a man living in a VERY low-income part of town where I work, whose occupation provides his family just enough to send one of his boys’ to school, stop and extend his lunch to a man on the side of the road. Kindness. Unnecessary, self-”less”, kindness. It is a reminder that there is larger “battle fought by a great evil, struggling to crush a small kernel of human kindness” on a consistent basis. Yet, kindness persists. I look for these small, seemingly simple gestures to not only encourage me to keep moving forward but to remind me the battle is being won. Beautiful post. Thank you .
Maggie_may95

I’ve never seen this take on good/evil. Loved it! Is really a battle to blindly go forth with kindness, no matter what odds oppose us. Very well done!
Bev

Wow this is so powerful. I love what Grossman has said and I appreciate what James has said too. I also have seen amazing people in Uganda, walking the dusty red roads in impeccably clean suits, and pushing old bicycles that carry impossible loads, and in Jakarta, whole families travelling on motor bikes, or a mother with a newborn in one arm and a hand on the steering bars of her motor bike… and yet, God is still God and somehow, good triumphs every day in the small places… just as Grossman has said. Emanuel!
http://twitter.com/jamesapearson James A Pearson

Deborah, Maggie and Bev, thank you so much for your comments. I worried when publishing the piece that it might seem too cynical, but I opted for honesty. I’m glad that you can relate.

Grossman’s quote, for me, is a call to a clear-eyed, pragmatic optimism, and a reminder that we all have the choice, no matter the circumstances, whether or not to be kind.
Dave Niemeyer

I love reading your posts, James.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it. My optimism, then, does not rest on the absence of evil, but on a glad belief in the preponderance of good and a willing effort always to cooperate with the good, that it may prevail.” – Helen KellerAn absolutely amazing quote, especially when you consider the source. Jesus tells us to pray “…Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” I pray that prayer, yet I see seemingly mostly the opposite, whether during my brief visit to Uganda, or in my daily life in rural America. I struggle to see the victories. I struggle to see the good.Although this might seem unrelated, I’m reminded of the Bible story where Gideon is told by God that if he doubts that good will prevail in the battle the next day, then he should go down to the enemy’s camp and listen in. He goes down (obviously because he was indeed doubting) and hears the men standing post there talking about a dream that is is interpreted as the foreshadowing of Gideon’s victory. Perhaps that’s what I need. An ear trained to listen for the confirmation of God’s work in the world, perhaps even listening a little at the enemy’s camp.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=549113262 Jared Angaza

Perspectives like this (yours) are what fuel a more peaceful and living society. It’s a choice to view “life” through this lens and to choose love over all else. It’s a discipline, and a way of life. And you, my friend, exemplify it. Thank you for spreading this love around the world.