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There is Infinite Power in Kindness
Florida Women Disarm Intruder with Sandwich
by Athena Witherspoon
Below is an article that was recently printed in the New York Times, outlining a miraculous event that happened in Tampa, Florida. This event brings a new point to what kindness is, and how it relates to the true meaning of power:

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Confronted with an armed intruder in their home, two women plied him with a ham sandwich and rum until he became groggy and passed out.

Police arrived and arrested Alfred Joseph Sweet, 52, to end the five-hour episode.

Cathy Ord, 60, and Rose Bucher, 63, said they tried to befriend the man after he burst through their kitchen window with a sawed-off shotgun Tuesday night.

They made him a sandwich, gave him a bottle of rum and suggested he shower and shave so he could "sort of be disguised in his getaway," Ord said.

"We just treated him with kindness,'' Bucher said.

She said she had offered Sweet cash and the keys to her Cadillac, but he just sat with them, holding his gun. The intruder never said what he wanted, the women said.

Now I'm not sure what this intruder's intent was, but who would have thought that feeding a perpetrator, and offering him Rum, would satisfy his motive? Given the fact that these two women were in their 60s, I can only assume that the perpetrator saw them as no threat to himself. But they pulled out one of the secret weapons of womankind - Kindness.

There was an expression once said by Linda Goodman that has long since stuck in my mind: "There is Infinite Power in Meekness." This expression brought such enlightenment and understanding of real power to me, and this lovely illustration of it has come to light. Two older women in their kitchen, whom some may perceive as 'meek', take complete control over a dangerous situation. A simple act of kindness saves the women from becoming victims, and turns them into two of my newest millennium heroes.

These women have set the example that kindness, something that most people crave in this world today, has infinite power. It is becoming evident that a simple act of kindness changes negative energy, it somehow negates the need to perpetrate, victimize, or demoralize. If one person senses that another cares about him or her, it changes their posture in a most positive way.

On the wall of Mother Theresa's wall, another infamous quote was found that sticks with me. Part of it said: "If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway." Its hard to know how to be kind in the face of humans. How to be kind when people laugh at us, think were bubble-heads, fairies, gay, stupid, ditzy... the list goes on, doesn't it? Hopefully, one by one, we can each come to understand that other people's dislike for us is just a reflection of their own insecurities.

In conclusion, this miraculous event involving two women and a perpetrator is just one shining example of an understanding in its' infancy; a new understanding of power that is being born this millennium. There if ininite power in kindness. If only we could be kind to our enemies, it could very well be the answer to ending war. After all, if enemies could release their anger and be kind to each other, they are no longer enemies, are they?