Redtree Times

Last Kind Words– Headed to the Principle Gallery

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

― Aesop

I am going to focus on positive things this coming week, a small nod to the spirit of Thanksgiving. After all, it is a holiday that is based on gratitude, which Cicero called the mother of all virtues.

Smart guy, that Cicero. I have to agree with him.

Gratitude begets all good things. It certainly leads to kindness. Kind words and gestures. It’s a virtue that is often lacking in the world these days, much to my dismay and consternation. After all, our reactions are choices and it puzzles me that so many so often choose cruelty over kindness. 

I have been the recipient of many kindnesses in my life, probably more than my fair share. Many came at times when I was at the lowest points in my life. Gestures and kind words, sometimes so small that the folks doling them out probably didn’t even realize the power they possessed, changed my attitude and the direction of my life. They made me feel vulnerably human and gave me hope that the darker days would soon be over.

I am forever grateful to those people in those instances. My hope is that some small word or act of kindness of mine will serve someone else in the same way.

It doesn’t take a tremendous effort to be kind. We sometimes become hardened and our reactions become coarse and cruel. We forget that kindness is always an option.

I certainly feel better when I make that choice.

That brings us to this week’s Sunday Morning Music which is accompanied by a new small painting at the top, from the upcoming small paintings show at the Principle Gallery, that has borrowed the song’s title for its own. The song is Last Kind Words Blues from Alison Kraus and Robert Plant, off their new album, Raise the Roof. The two have great chemistry and their collaborations are always something special.

The song was written and originally recorded by Geeshie Wiley in 1930. Most likely you don’t know the name. Few do. Little is known of her. No known photos or biographical details. All that people knw for sure is that she wrote and recorded six songs for Paramount Records. But even that small sample left a powerful legacy, with some Blues historian calling her perhaps the greatest singer and musician from the rural South. 

Last Kind Words Blues is certainly a powerful song. I am putting the original from Geeshie Wiley at the bottom.

So, give a listen and don’t let your next kind words be your last.