Kindness

Kindness has converted more people to God than doctrine and learning and argument. None of these helped if they were not also kind.
   One of the greatest saints in the early church was St. Augustine. He was a very learned philosopher. We probably imagine that when the bishop St. Ambrose converted Augustine to Christianity, he must have had some very good philosophical arguments to prove his points. But that was not so. St. Augustine himself admits that it was the kindness of St. Ambrose which made him change his life... and none of the learning or arguments.
   Remember the "good" thief stealing heaven because he was kind to Jesus on the cross?

- F. W. Faber

Source: from the Book 1000 Stories you can use (Volume Two) by Frank Mihalic, SVD *917