"Remember to go out of your way to do something kind once in a while"

That was the fortune I received last week at my favorite Chinese restaurant.  Sometimes I wonder if Chinese restuarants give you those little cookies, with a piece of wisdom inside, to help cushion the blow of the bill.  Either way, this fortune caught my eye and got me thinking.  Doing something kind of someone should not be "going out of your way".  If that is what kindness entails, we are in trouble.  Going out of one’s way implies an extra effort.  Kindness should be something that is "on the way".  Kindness should be something that comes natural.  Kindness should be something that we should not need to be reminded to show.  Kindness should not be an extra effort.  For Jesus I don’t think kindness was an extra effort.  And I thank God for that because otherwise the cross would not have happened and we would be dead in our sins.  When we show kindness we are showing Christ.  And showing Christ should be as natural as breathing.  I know that writer of this fortune meant well.  But maybe, just maybe they could have written this fortune as follows:  "Someone will show YOU kindness/Christ today".