“Why does kindness seem revolutionary?
When did we let hate get so ordinary?
Let’s turn it around, flip the script
Judge slow, love quick
God help us get revolutionary.“
Episode #273 — These gripping lyrics form the heart of the hit track “Revolutionary” from Josh Wilson. It’s an invitation to familiar decency and truth that can feel so counter-cultural in today’s world. Josh explains why these lines are so much more than an idle hope to him.
“Because I see it! Of course, you turn on the news and a lot of times it’s bad news. You see all the worst of what’s happening, but if you look close enough and you dig deep enough, you see beautiful things happening as well.”
“I can speak for myself. Earlier in the pandemic, when everything first started, we were having trouble finding some eggs. The stores around here were running out of meat and eggs, and our neighbor caught wind of that. The next morning, a carton of eggs showed up on our front porch. They actually have chickens, and they’d heard we needed eggs so they filled up a carton and brought them down. I think that’s just a tiny example of what’s happening writ large during this pandemic – the acts of kindness that are going on.”
Josh follows that great dose of hope with an explanation of what he means with that provoking word, “revolutionary”.
“So I believe we can get there. I believe in a lot of ways we are. It’s not our first reaction though. That’s why kindness is revolutionary. Because I think our first response when we are confronted with someone who is different than us, or believes differently than we do, or cuts us off in traffic! Our first response is to sort of put up our defenses, and I just think there’s a lot to be learned, starting with people’s names. If you learn somebody’s name and their story, you begin to empathize with them. And I think that’s how kindness can happen.”
Josh Wilson is the hit-crafting singer-songwriter behind the moving and thought provoking new track “Revolutionary” & favorites like “I Refuse” & “That Was Then. This Is Now.”
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