Years ago, a poor boy went begging for a meal. But he lost his nerve when a pretty girl opened the door, so he just asked for a glass of water. However, she thought he looked hungry and she gave him a large glass of milk, which he drank gratefully, then asked how much he owed her. She told him that one should never expect to be paid for an act of kindness.

Years later, that young woman succumbed to a rare disease and was eventually referred to Dr. Howard Kelly, one of the few specialists in that field. She recovered but then faced the prospect of how to pay for her treatment – until she opened the doctor’s account and read the words: ‘paid in full with a glass of milk.’

The man who saved her had once been that boy. As Jesus said: ‘give and it shall be given to you.’ Kindness always reproduces itself.