Acts of kindness — random and otherwise — at Advent

When I was a teen, this phrase came into vogue: "Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty." You saw it on car bumper stickers everywhere, and many mornings sitting in assembly, our school headmaster would address us about kindness using this phrase. My high school was secular, and I remember family discussions — lightly theological — around our dinner table about the slogan. Kindness and beauty are not in fact random or senseless, my parents said. They're purposeful and orde

When I was a teen, this phrase came into vogue: "Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty." You saw it on car bumper stickers everywhere, and many mornings sitting in assembly, our school headmaster would address us about kindness using this phrase. My high school was secular, and I remember family discussions — lightly theological — around our dinner table about the slogan. Kindness and beauty are not in fact random or senseless, my parents said. They're purposeful and orde…