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| (Sorry for the poor quality of the first two pictures but I'm just not very good with indoor lighting!) |
It's been sitting on my apartment desk for almost two years now. 'IT' is a one of a kind letter from two organizations I had never heard of and it was dated 31 December 2013. Actually, it was much more than just a letter; it was an award on very nice material. You see, five months earlier, on July 8th and 9th, I stayed for roughly thirty-six hours at the Crowne Plaza Airport Singapore. In case you are wondering, I was in Singapore on a layover as I traveled to Vietnam for my annual mission. My favorite way to fly is Singapore Airlines which to me is the best carrier anywhere. I fly Singapore Airlines because my dear friend, the lovely Sherry Ann, books my flight and is a business woman/frequent flyer who happens to reside in Singapore. Sherry Ann was called out of the country so we could not meet but she arranged for me to stay at the Crowne Plaza, shown above. My flight arrived very early in the morning and it was a grueling one, with a stop in Moscow. After getting my bags, I found the hotel and presented myself, and simply asked if I could sit in the lobby until check-in time which was hours away. The Crowne Plaza staff went a huge step further- they let me check in as soon as my room was ready! I enjoyed the wonderful accommodations and wandering the airport, as nice, I am guessing, as any in the world. The next morning, I was working on my laptop in the airport coffee shop when a gentleman came over and began a conversation. I told him I was a volunteer helping in Vietnam- he told me he was the hotel manager and informed the desk to extend my checkout time for three hours so I would not have to roam the airport with luggage! I was amazed and overjoyed. When I finally checked out, I filled out a survey they offer guests and as you might expect, my opinion was glowing. I'm not a big time traveler but they treated me as if I were. The least I could do is say thanks.
Fast forward to January 2014. A package arrived from Singapore with the aforementioned award. It told me that I had been nominated as a Gracious Guest by the Crowne Plaza! It went on to explain that for nineteen years, the Singapore Hotel Association (SHA) and the Singapore Kindness Movement (SKM) had bestowed recognition on hotel employees for showing kindness to their guests. The award further explained that as kindness breeds kindness, the recognition was being extended to nominated guests and I was in the first select group. In other words, they were thanking me for allowing them to serve me! What a wonderful concept! But isn't that what Jesus taught in the Golden Rule, a term not used in the Scriptures but spelled out in the Sermon on the Mount? In Matthew 7:12. Jesus voiced these words to His followers:
So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
I'm convinced that most Americans, even the non-religious, get the gist of what the Savior was teaching. We further understand that some will not respond to kindness in like manner but many, maybe most, will. I'm really not sure why these groups chose to honor me but it really doesn't matter. I have no choice but to pass the kindness on. And so should all of us. Maybe we can help make an ugly world a tiny bit more beautiful. It's a step.
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