Kindness
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." [John 3:16]
"Chucky the Ducky"
All the pretty ducklings were so excited about the big beauty pageant
that was going to be held down by the lake. Oh, how they preened their feathers
and tried on different flowers and new ways to waddle that they thought
would give them the edge to win the contest. They quacked nonstop each evening
before the competition about which one was the prettiest duckling of them
all and often times they fought and got their feelings hurt and had to go
pout because each thought he was the prettiest and each one worried that
he or she wasn’t.
It seemed like every duck in the colony could only think of the pageant
and getting ready. Every duck except for Chucky. Chucky didn’t care
about being beautiful or being admired. His favorite thing to do was have
friends over and getting to know them and sharing Jesus with them. The other
ducks just didn’t understand Chucky at all. He associated with the
most unacceptable types. Chucky enjoyed having the frogs, the turtles, even
the field mice to his home. To the other dignified ducks, it was out of
the question to associate with such unworthy beasts who were clearly not
as advanced and sophisticated much less as pretty as the ducks.
“Chucky, why don’t you pretty yourself up? I bet with some preening
and some pretty flowers, you could be able to compete in the beauty pageant
on Saturday.” His friend Gracie Gander said to him.
“That’s not important Gracie.” He answered her. But Friday
night I am having a small dinner party. Why don’t you come? Roger Rodent
will be here with his family as well as Terry Turtle and his girlfriend
Teresa. We are going to play twister. It will be fun.”
“Oh Chucky, there is no way I could socialize with THOSE species.”
Gracie said proudly and she strutted out of Chucky’s home proudly.
The day of the pageant was so exciting. Ducks scurried about in nervous
excitement about the chance to win the big prize, although there really
was no prize. Finally the time came. Chucky and his guests watched form
a distant hill as they sipped their tea and ate their cookies. The Ducks
mixed and mingled in a group waiting for the pageant to start, sometimes
pushing and biting each other in frustration and jealousy.
“FLY!” came the sudden command. Suddenly, catastrophe struck.
From the tall grass, the human hunters stood up and began to shoot their
guns. The duck colony was caught totally by surprise. An alert duckling
spotted the hunters just before they struck and sounded the alarm. Instinct
set in and the colony lifted into the air flying every direction so as not
be good targets and flew in a panic away from the lake. The rifles rang
their shots out in a riot of explosions that sounded like the world was
ending. But no duck was killed. The hunters were mad and took their equipment
and moved on to another site to shoot ducks.
Chucky excused himself from his guests who understood his concern. Quickly
he waddled to the standard retreat spot where his fellow ducks would gather
after such an attack. He got there before most of the frightened colony
but when he did, he found something very upsetting. Gracie was hurt badly.
Chucky went to her and comforted her. “Why me Chucky?” She cried
and he plucked his own feathers to pad the places where she was hurt for
warmth. Soon the whole colony arrived and they were all worried and upset
but they would not come near Gracie.
“Come help me.” Chucky pleaded with them. “She is hurt. She
needs all of our help.”
“Oh no.” the other ducks said proudly. “We could never soil
ourselves with her now. What if some of the dirt and blood got on our feathers?
No, no, Chucky. Just leave her. We cannot afford to be soiled like that.”
And slowly the colony slipped away. But Chucky didn’t care about being
dirty or getting her blood on him. He just knew he had to save his dear
friend.
“I have to get her to my house where I can help her heal.” He
quacked to himself.
“We will help.” Came the squeaky voice from the edge of the clearing.
There stood his many friends that the other ducks would not associate with.
The frogs, the turtles, the field mice, the rodents, the snakes all showed
up. Chucky was always there for them, now they were here for him. They gathered
around Gracie and helped transport her to Chucky’s home where she began
to heal.
“Chucky, I feel so ashamed I was bad to your friends.” Gracie
said a few days later as she was getting better. “Why do you think
they helped you save me?” She wondered.
“Because that is what Jesus would do.” Chucky responded bringing
her some more soup. “We are made in God’s image and God sent his
son to save us and nothing would stop him from doing that. So the least
we can do is reach out to a friend to show her the same love.” he said.
Gracie was so grateful and wanted to learn more about Jesus and Chucky’s
good friends. Never again did she worry about being beautiful or proud as
she was before the pageant. Now she just wanted to be more like Jesus, just
like you and I want to be.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. [Colossians 3:12]
