The substance of the virtuous pillar of kindness is benevolence. When a people are generous, freedom flourishes; the covetous will tear it asunder. Saint James said, “You lust and do not have; {so} you commit murder. And you are envious and cannot obtain; {so} you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend {it} on your pleasures.”

Kindness is not just about being generous with our “things.” It’s about the thoughts and words entertained in our hearts that spring forth, either to heal or to wound. When a person is rich, in goods or wisdom, and is tempted not to share with one in need, “sin is crouching at the door ready to pounce” upon him/her. Sin is ready to make that person a captive to greed. Greed will lead to going after what a “neighbor” has which is a violent attack on freedom. Like a characteristic of a “good Christian,” the characteristic of a truly free nation is kindness and generosity. Think about it.