Greetings Dear Reader,
We have seen the memes about the lack of open registers at
some large stores. Recently I was
waiting in line at the store with a few items.
There were three people in front of me and the other open register had
line six deep. There were four other
closed checkout stations.
The guy in front of me turned and let out a long complaint. He was obviously irritated and desired a
fellow traveler with his impatience. Immediately,
I was instead irritated by his complaint. The constant internal war between my fallen
and redeem natures was at once in full conflict.
I wished to chide the man for his impatience. I did not, however, know what his
circumstances were. Pride asked me to feel
good about my not caring about the line length.
Then I recalled that it was just as wrong to be impatient with this man
without cause. I saw that I needed to
engage with the human.
To do this without agreement or judgment required not
answering and not chiding. I asked him
about the rest of his day. He was in a
hurry to get to lunch and was picking up something to add to the repast. Again, my fallen self wanted to judge him for
waiting until the last minute. I shoved
that down and really listened as he continued.
The man went on to say that he was invited to see some
family that he has not in quite some time.
He was anxious and unsure of what to bring.
He had chosen crackers, cheese, some summer sausage, and a nice bottle
of wine. I told him that I thought his
choices were spot-on.
Once I was distracted by showing love and kindness to the
man, his impatience and my foolish irritation dissipated. We talked about his family and were at the
cashier in less time than we both anticipated.
He left, hopefully, more hopeful.
I saw the same man a church yesterday.
He did not see me but I realized that he walked past me to his seat
every Sunday.
I was thankful that the Father loves me enough to nudge me
to put love first. What does it matter
that someone is anxious and irritable when it gives me the opportunity to show love? Love must never be trumped by long lines or
anxiety. I must be loving no matter how
others are acting. I must include in
that not judging them for that behavior.
It is choosing what matters over my agenda and
self-righteousness. I must be certain
that I do not set aside love for temporary smugness or insensitivity. What matters is that I capture the thoughts
before they get lease to express themselves.
As we travel, Dear Reader, we must remember that love is what matters in
long lines. This will aid in making us
unoffendable.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every
writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a
homeowner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure
store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Contacts for Aramis
Thorn:
#aramisthorn
Bookings: aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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