Chestertonian Kindness

One of the personality traits I've admired in Chesterton (from what I've read) is his universal kindness. He was kind to Shaw as he was kind to the Nicholls girls; he was kind to Wells as he was kind to Belloc. Not that he agreed with them, but still he was kind to them.

It is very difficult to feel this kindness towards one's intellectual enemies. As an example, I have a personal blog. I stood up for something. An anonymous commenter disagrees with me and accuses me of doing something to which I am of the opinion he/she is wrong. My first inclination, as owner of the blog, is simply to wipe it away, delete the offending post.

(OK, so now you know I'm human. Forgive me, too, if I've offended anyone here: and I suspect I may have. I am a relatively new Chestertonian, and some of you have been around for more years than I've been alive. My inexperience sometimes shows. I humbly submit that I am not anywhere near perfect, learn something every day, and need forgiveness every day.)

But the Chestertonian thing to do with a disagreement is to try to be kind, and start a conversation where a conversation usually stops--at the disagreement. It is difficult not to let feelings (of which I tend to allow more reign than I should, I admit that) get the better of me.

But I am trying. I study Chesterton because I do hope to learn from him. And I hope that, given some years, I will become more kind. And if I learn that from Chesterton, our relationship will have been worth while.