Relentless Kindness

I recently watched Season 1 of Ted Lasso after being intrigued by what I’d heard — that it’s really good. After I did a little research I realized that the star, Jason Sudeikis, wasn’t the actor who had so many roles in what I call ‘boy humor’ — the main reason I avoided watching it. Also, it’s only only available on Apple+  TV.

​But a few weeks ago I acquired access to Apple+ TV and now I’m 

Janet Starkey

hooked on Ted Lasso. ‘Ted is a man who shows empathy and kindness to everyone, even those who seem to not deserve it. His acts of kindness range from offering a comforting word, to baking biscuits (cookies) for his boss — and throughout each episode, viewers see how Ted’s actions take off as other emulate him, knowingly or not.’1

To provide some context, Ted is an American football coach who knows nothing about soccer and yet he’s hired to coach AFC Richmond, a fictional premier soccer team in England. The team’s owner hopes to ruin the team with this hire just to spite her ex-husband. Can you imagine being hired to do something with the hope and expectation that you will fail miserably? Not very kind!

The town and the players are prepared to hate Ted, convinced he’s a tosser (an obnoxious jerk) and worse. As the season progresses ‘Lasso’s southern charm and infectiously joyous personality and emotional complexity makes him hard to hate.’2 He wins over the hearts of countless detractors and eventually his own team.

Practicing kindness is simple — it's teachable (Pastor Neal’s Kindness & Positivity class)  and it’s contagious (Ted Lasso).

So my prayer is that we all do our best to practice relentless kindness. Never give up.
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“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32

“But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”  Luke 6:35
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In His Name, Janet
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1  Ted Lasso Reminds Us of The Importance of Kindness. Marijke Vroomen Durning, November 23, 2021. 

2  Why Ted Lasso is a Better Christian Than I'll Ever Be.