James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity!"
i was at Trader Joe's shopping and saw a situation that made me cry. A beautiful mid aged woman was trying to back out of a parking spot and a mid aged man came quickly around the corner and they almost hit....almost...She started to curse and yell and i encouraged her to stay calm and go on her day and thank God nothing serious happened. Then the man came out of his car arrogant and nasty and accused her of a thousand mistakes....she was waiting for him..wanted a fight....opened her window and then it began...i tried to reason with them with few words....plz be civil with each other....plz....they were so cruel....ugly....abusive...nasty...sarcastic...angry.....hateful...and they subjected everyone around them with their hate and foul language......i hung my head in sorrow....wept for the hate that two people showed each other...how can we treat another living being like this?...how can we be so out of control that Love cannot be the way we express ourselves....how can we not be respectful of this person who carries the Breath of God in them?....oh my sorrow....i ached and everyone around me went about their business untouched by it....indifferent to this horrible experience.
The condition of this world starts with me....and you....one person at a time....This is how wars start....one person so self righteous they feel they have a right to scream at someone else as if they are garbage....i have a saying....'We better watch out how we treat God's kids....and all of us are His children!'....God is a Protective Parent and we surely must stop and speak with kindness to all.
We must think before we talk....we need to all develop self control....yes...i said it....SELF CONTROL....and patience. Our mouths have the potential of 'killing' someone deep inside. Better not to speak if we cannot do so civilly....in kindness....we can express our anger...we can express our feelings, but it better be in control or not at all. When the anger is too high....wait.....when we are a lose canon, wait....when we feel like punching something....we must close our mouths and wait until our frontal lobe of reasoning begins to engage again. Write the letter and do not send it .....edit it 10 times before you ever think of sending it.....until it is a mature respectful expression of what you want to say....talk to them only when you can do it in the same way. Very funny how you feel a day or two later after the incident....it loses power as time passes....How important is it anyway...if someone is not bleeding or dying there is no need for this rise in us....
Let's really evaluate our words, facial expressions...accusations....we can never really know a person's motive or background info from their lives.....i knew a priest who i particularly was not fond of because he worked mostly from his intellect and i am drawn to those who have mastered intellect expressed thru the heart....but there was one huge contribution he made to my life....every time he preached he expressed this line....."Always....Always give the benefit of the doubt!".....God bless him...for that is his gift to us....reminding us to cut some slack to everyone because we all are carrying burdens....and just maybe that person you are screaming at may have a cross in their life that is 100 times greater than anything you are walking thru.
til next time...let's pray James 3....Great Wisdom....and meditate on this great lesson in 'Taming the tongue'......be assured of my continued prayers and look for miracles in your lives...everyday is full of them...ang
http://www.usccb.org/bible/james/3
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