What the heck did I just say?!
Sorry, it was just my way of telling you, "the caped crusader" in me likes to rush to a rescue. Like most "caped crusaders", I, usually, find: I have gotten myself into more trouble, than I bargained for!Let's talk about more important things:
Mr. P. and I discussed the human propensity for interpreting the other person's behavior and motivations. Our emotional baggage forces us to imagine the way someone deals with us in terms of our memories and the wounds we carry from the past.
Taka's computer used to make this really loud bang, like a fist slamming on the table. I would hear it repeatedly and think: "He is so angry! I can't deal with this!" Taka, probably, wasn't angry at all (or, at least, not in the way I imagined)! On the other hand, my attitude toward him was colored by my perception of him being constantly mad at me. We have to judge the others' behavior only in terms in which our physical senses read it. In other words, if I don't hear harsh words from someone or see them gnashing their teeth at me, I should not assume, they are mad at me simply because they, for example, averted their faces as they passed me. Mr. P. told me, how he became convinced that, his roommate was upset at him, because he rushed by him without saying a word. Upon asking the man, what was wrong, he found out: the person was just in a big hurry to leave and rushed to get something from his bedroom! So, the feelings that Mr. P. assigned to his roommate were entirely based on the painful memories of someone else's anger and mistreatment of him.
Sitting in a squalid jail cell, being constantly abused and anticipating his death, St. Paul wrote in his 4th epistle to the Philippians:
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me. Then the God of peace will be with you".
Isn't it better if, instead of living in fear of rejection, anger or failure, we simply try to remember the great blessings that God of our understanding, and, in my case, - the Heavenly Parent of absolute power and Mercy, bestowed upon us? Wouldn't it be wonderful to focus on all the wonder of love, all the marvelous energy that flows through the Universe and into our hearts and bodies?
Today, at least, I choose to swim in the current of God's love. I will focus on the things that show me His pure, gracious, lovely nature and become a little closer to that ideal!
No comments:
Post a Comment