Goodness and peace of man (part 2)
It is no great thing to associate with the good and gentle, for such association is naturally pleasing. Everyone enjoys a peaceful life and prefers persons of congenial habits. But to be able to live at peace with harsh and perverse men, or with the undisciplined and those who irritate us, is a great grace, a praiseworthy and manly thing. (I won't pick on my teenagers today...I did have a great mentor who used to suggest I befriend those who aren't pleasing to my taste...that annoying telemarketer, grocery clerk, person from church, the mentally challenged person who wants to talk to me as I zoom through the grocery store...Making our souls stretch to be more like Christ.)
Some people live at peace with themselves and with their fellow men, but others are never at peace with themselves nor do they bring it to anyone else. These latter are a burden to everyone, but they are more of a burden to themselves. A few, finally, live at peace with themselves and try to restore it to others. (I hate hearing stories of people who have bitter grudges on others...it is such a waste of time. I just heard of a story of a woman and her family who were hurriedly being prepared to be deported. Her little brother quickly put on his clothes and when she looked down at him at the train station she disdainfully said, "You put on two different shoes. Can't you do anything right?" Those were the last words she ever said to him. They were separated and she never saw him again. She resolved that the words she speaks to others are kind because she never knows if they are the last words she'll to say to that person. And she shares her story with everyone.)
Now, all our peace in this miserable life is found in humbly enduring suffering rather than in being free from it. He who knows best how to suffer will enjoy the greater peace, because he is the conqueror of himself, the master of the world, a friend of Christ, and an heir of heaven.
(we all have different struggles in our state in life, the goal is to embrace them with purity of intention...over and over again...not getting discouraged!!!)
No comments:
Post a Comment