How Can Love and Kindness Make a Difference?

A Saturday Prompt before Mother’s Day

(Photo by ArtMarie via Getty Images)

I’m not Catholic, but the emergence of a new pope who cares about social justice and particularly migrants’ rights is encouraging. My simple notion is that we can always benefit from someone who advocates for and helps bring love and kindness into the world. That’s always true, but especially when we are being held hostage by a man and a regime that relishes cruelty and hate. Before becoming Pope Leo XIV, this Chicago native talked about the need for a bishop “to be humble, to be close to the people he serves, to walk with them, to suffer with them.” Is it any wonder that the MAGA crowd is up in arms?

Pope Leo’s gentle vision doesn’t contradict Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker’s urging not to acquiesce to authoritarians and to recognize that the only thing bullies understand is a punch in the face. This hard-headed mindset is predicated on the desire to get to a better place where bullies don’t have power to act with violence and cruelty. It’s worth remembering Pritzker’s view on kindness: “When someone’s path through this world is marked with acts of cruelty, they have failed the first test of an advanced society. They never forced their animal brain to evolve past its first instinct,” he said in a graduation speech for Northwestern students, adding, “Over my many years in politics and business, I have found one thing to be universally true: The kindest person in the room is often the smartest.”

All this is on my mind as Mother’s Day arrives tomorrow. My own mother (also a Chicago native) passed away nearly four years ago, but I remain crystal clear that I’d be in a heap of trouble if I didn’t have her love and affection as a child. I have surely benefited from witnessing her tender attitude and actions when she saw the struggles of others, especially young and vulnerable people. She bailed out friends of mine who needed help more than once when I was growing up.

I treasure memories of sitting with her and gazing out a picture window as thunder and lightning roared and cracked outside. She loved a good storm almost as much as she did horses and dogs (but perhaps nothing as much as being a grandmother). She loved to travel, to learn about diverse cultures and the different ways people live on our planet. Oh, she could be difficult and contentious, too, especially in her later years, but I was lucky to be protected and strengthened by my mother’s love as a child when it mattered most. It’s made me a more loving adult. And as the author of the book The Gunman and His Mother about Lee Harvey Oswald and his mother, I can tell you that I have a strong idea what can happen when a mother fails at her job.

So what do you think? How can love and kindness make a difference? How have they made a difference in your life? In honor of Mother’s Day, perhaps you’d like to share observations or remembrances about your own mother.

As always, I look forward to reading your thoughts and the opportunity for our growing community to hear from each other. Please do be respectful in your comments. Trolling will not be tolerated.

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One other note: Over the last couple days, I’ve been hearing from old friends from Chicago’s South suburbs. It turns out that the former Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who lived near the small town I grew up in, was a fan of a local pizza joint called Aurelio’s that I often visited with my mother and friends. There’s even a photo of him there with family and friends from less than a year ago. While I hope the new pope really does spread kindness in our world, I already am sure he has good taste in pizza.

Notice the man in the blue shirt in the center. (Photo found on Facebook.)

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