Reflections for International Kindness Day
November 13th is International Kindness Day—a day set aside to honor gentleness, compassion, and the quiet good we offer one another. It also happens to be the day my mom passed away last year, after being diagnosed with brain cancer.
In her final week, we knew the time was close. My wife’s birthday was approaching on the 15th, my boss’s is the 16th, and my dad’s was the 17th. For a moment, we wondered which birthday her passing might fall on—whose joy would be forever tied to grief.
But she didn’t take anyone’s day.
She passed on November 13th.
On International Kindness Day.
And it felt exactly like her.
My mom wasn’t someone who “fought” cancer in the way that word is often used. She didn’t battle. She didn’t rage. She accepted the diagnosis with the same gentleness that shaped every day of her life. Her strength wasn’t loud. It looked like peace.
She showed Christ not by striving, but by being present.
Even into adulthood, I called her nearly every day. She listened fully. She didn’t rush to fix my problems or redirect the conversation. She didn’t speak badly about others. She didn’t make me feel small for struggling. She simply made space—space that reminded me of my worth and God’s steady nearness.
That was her kindness.
Not a gesture.
A way of being.
In Scripture, there’s a passage that describes a woman of godly character—not because of what she accomplishes, earns, or proves, but because of the spirit she carries. Proverbs 31 isn’t a checklist of tasks to complete. It is a picture of someone whose life reflects God’s wisdom, patience, and compassion in everyday moments.
It’s the kind of person who teaches without forcing, influences without demanding, and loves without needing attention for it.
“She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.” — Proverbs 31:26
On International Kindness Day, I don’t feel pressure to perform something big in her honor. Instead, I try to carry forward what she carried so quietly and so well:
- To slow down enough to actually hear someone
- To offer gentleness instead of judgment
- To speak with patience, even when life feels hurried
- To leave people feeling more whole than when I found them
The best way I can honor her is not by remembering how she died, but by living what she taught.
If you’re reading this, maybe there is someone in your life who modeled kindness for you too—someone whose gentleness helped shape the person you became.
Today might be a good day to remember them.
And maybe even carry their kindness into someone else’s life.
Because kindness doesn’t end when someone is gone.
It continues through the lives they touched.
It continues through us.
- Joe Davis '15, Director of Online and Graduate Enrollment