The ministry of kindness

A friend of mine gave this text to me more than twenty years ago. I read it everyday. It is not easy to practice, but I believe that if I just try to be kind, I would have done something to make the world better.

Of all the ministries open to souls consecrated to God, the most effective, the most far-reaching, the most consoling is Kindness.
Kindness is one of God's best gifts to the world.
It drives gloom and darkness for souls.
It puts hope into fainting hearts.
It sweetens sorrow. It lessens pain.
It discovers unsuspected beauties of human character.
It calls forth a response from all that is best in souls.
It purifies, glorifies, ennobles all that it touches.
It opens the floodgates of children's laughter.
It gathers the tears of repentant love.
It lightens the burdens of weariness.
It stops the torrent of angry passion.
It takes the sting from failure.
It kindles courageous ambition.
It lifts the unfortunate.
It leads back the wayward.
It walks in the steps of our Savior.
Let us become apostles of kindness
to partake of its sweetness, to aspire to its holiness.
The ministry of kindness is exalted, it is sublime.
It is Christlike!