Somewhere, someone reading this article is convinced that this is a coffee-fueled, sleep-deprived, rant for the sake of ranting against someone who cut me off in traffic yesterday while I was scarfing down my burrito supreme and trying to work on flashcards for finals.

And I could completely understand where they would get that idea. Since it is nearing finals, I could bite someone's head off.

But that's not why I'm writing about this. I'm just writing about it because it popped into my head today.

There is just a lot of rude and mean people walking around. Plain and simple. Thing is, it doesn't have to be that way.

We are all absolutely guilty of being unkind every now and again, but we normally apologize to those who we've been rude to, and move on. We don't reside in this constant state of anger and bitterness.

Truth be told, I think this atmosphere of unkindness begins from the heart. I know, I should write for DaySpring Cards or something.

But seriously, it all begins with our attitude underneath. I'm currently working on disciplining my own life and refining and honing what I know needs to be done.

I'm a Christ-follower, and everything I do I want to do hand in hand with Him. Of the many, many names that He has been called over thousands of year, one that means so much to me is the Potter. We are all His clay, and He wants to craft, and shape, and color, and chisel, and form us the way He wants to.

Sometimes we fight back or resist the changes He wants to make, for a number of reasons. Maybe it's uncomfortable, or it's going to be difficult, or it doesn't fit the plan for our lives that we saw best.

Sometimes the clay tries to tell the Potter what to do.

But what does any of this clay stuff have to do with being Kind??

"But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart..." Matthew 15:18

Most of the times, a bad tongue and bad mouth stems from a bad heart.

Whether you believe in Christ or not, I think we can all agree that who we are underneath all the flesh and fantasies will be reflected in the way we live, which includes how we treat others.

How effective would we be at trying to treat a person with Cancer, with focusing on the tumor? What if we just treated the outside symptoms and their pain or discomfort, but didn't try to get to the bottom of it all?

Kindness is a Heart problem. And, that's a pretty big one. Just ask any heart surgeon.