I WAS struck by the kindness of another this week.

Having a bag full of foodstuffs I was returning to a store, which has been on a refund basis if not needed, I got out of the car and picked up a plastic bag with all the items in it.

A jar of coffee then rolled out of the bag and on to the roadway.

Fortunately, it didn’t break and so I bent down to pick it up. Regrettably my hands were cold, as it was a cold morning, and so was the jar of coffee which had been in the car all night and it slipped from by hands and this time dropped onto the roadway and smashed.

I started to pick up the largest of the glass pieces and fortunately there was a bin near to hand.

But immediately a gentleman I did not know and who must have seen what had happened, thrust a £10 note into my hand and said, ‘away and buy another jar’.

I thanked him and pushed the £10 note back to him, but he was insistent I took it and with great thanks I did.

He or another man then stood in the roadway to stop cars parking where the glass was, and with the help of a small brush and shovel from a nearby shop, I was able after several goes to clear the roadway of both glass and coffee.

All this really was a random act of kindness towards me, and I will make sure I do something similar for another, as I know the effect it has on the person concerned. Maybe you all could do one this coming week, especially at this season of goodwill towards all.

It brings back to mind the story of the good Samaritan in the bible who helped a stranger who had been beaten and robbed and left half dead on the wayside.

The Samaritan man bandaged his wounds, got him to a hotel and paid for his stay there. It really was a lovely act of kindness and generosity, as was my experience as well.

You know, we can all be kind and Inverclyde is known for its generosity.

As the very famous hymn says for us who makes the Lord God their shepherd, ‘surely goodness, and mercy, shall follow me, all the days of my life’ and I am sure there will be very few of us who don’t want a life filled with goodness and mercy.