Five Dollar Kindness

A recent sermon inspired a kind of social experiment. I was moved by the idea of how one small gift, five loaves and two fish, created a multiplier effect for an entire community. One act of generosity led to communal fulfillment. Pretty cool!

So…I decided to invest $100 into something I’m calling Five Dollar Acts of Kindness. 

We don’t really carry around loaves and fishes in our knapsacks these days, but you can find a can of sardines and a sleeve of saltines at any convenience store or grocery store. In 2023, that’ll run you about $5.  What would happen if we invested that small sum into one act of kindness in our week? Could we channel the same spirit of community fulfillment? Could we be an interconnected village of giving and receiving, one that meets the needs of our neighbors generously and spontaneously?

At the conclusion of my sermon on 3/26/2023, I distributed 20 envelopes, each containing $5 and a note of explanation (Five Dollar Acts of Kindness (3.5 × 10 in). My hope is to underwrite 20 acts of spontaneous kindness directed to people beyond the walls of Sardis in the coming week. I’m hopeful that participants (initiators of kindness) will share their stories to social media.  I’m also hopeful that the recipients of these kindnesses will share their thoughts, too, and maybe even join in an extended chorus of spontaneous generosity.

Maybe this will change the world in transformative ways. Or maybe it will make one single person feel valued and loved. Or maybe, I’ve just given twenty friends some spare pocket change. Whatever happens, I’m investing, with Easter hope, in the limitless possibilities of a loving Creator, made manifest in the everyday kindnesses of God’s children. I’d say that investment is sounder than the $10 I wagered on Arizona in my March Madness bracket.  And the potential payoff, a better-connected world, I think, is certainly much greater!

Feel free to comment on this page or use Sardis social channels and the hashtag #5DollarKinddness to join the story.

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Let’s be a chorus of love!

Bob