A little tongue in cheek today. Believe me, I've learned that my tongue is much better there than given free reign to slash about. It can be sharp and sometimes not so kind. That goes against who I want to be; who God created me to be to represent Him the best that I can. I've picked the topic of kindness for this post. It is one of my greatest assets, yet one of my greatest struggles. God's spirit in me inclines me to be kind to others. I have no problem doing that - when they are facing hardships or when they are kind to me. It is when they are prideful, annoying, or belligerent, that I have a problem exhibiting proper kindness. Who's fault is this? There would have been a day that I would have quickly said, "Their's", and meant it whole-heartedly. Yet through God's ever-loving kindness, He continues to hone my kindness skills and teach me how to overcome my own pride. He says love them anyway - be kind to them. Actually, my reaction to rude or annoying people is my own choice. It becomes as a big of a problem - my problem - as I make of it.
A little history here. I am blonde, but no dummy, by far. I do absent-minded stuff, but I can school most people in a game of Words With Friends and my wit is quicker and sharper than most snake bites. Yeah, that's about what it's like - a snake bite....venomous and poison. If my tongue is not kept in cheek - so to speak - it can quickly take a wrong turn and go completely out of control. Over the years, my struggle has been based on my prideful response to the actions of others. It was much easier to put them in their place with my quick wit and sharp tongue than it was to ask God how I could shine brightly with love and patience as I deferred to allowing His Holy Spirit to direct my response. There were countless times that I failed miserably at turning over the power. I have to admit. I still goof up. But I'm much better at being genuinely kind that I once was.
Just to assure you that I'm no saint, as if you hadn't already surmised the obvious, I will give you an example of something that happened on an airplane today. A disclaimer, albeit only a small one, is that I get many grace challenges on airplanes. Yes, I have pretty regular flying lessons. It's like God takes me to class when I fly. I'm longing for First Class, but I don't think I've graduated yet. But back to my transgression. A guy in front of me reclined his seat - an action that has long been one of my pet peeves, but not the one I am discussing today - this put his head back by the window that was beside my chair. He assumed all window rights at that point and proceeded to pull down the window so it would be dark and he could sleep. How dare he?! Yes, that is what I thought and I did not hesitate to grunt a little and raise up the window. No one messes with my upcoming view of the Rocky Mountains....that would just be sacrilegious - possibly. Now did I have a right to assume my window rights? Of course! Was it beneficial to do so? I think not. My proper response would have been to ask God to give me patience to deal with this person usurping my window rights. He could have had a hard night with no sleep, albeit none of us had much sleep getting to LAX airport through traffic at 5 in the morning. It requires lots of time and patience. Maybe everyone was running short on both. He could have just wanted to close his eyes and relax. He probably thought everyone else wanted to do the same thing. I should have, but I can't sleep on planes. Whose problem is that? Mine of course. I realized mine wasn't a kind response a second after I raised up that window. Not a stellar moment for me. But the proverbial light had already shined on my shortcoming:-(
There have been other instances where I've learned to respond to irritations with more humility and patience. At least I didn't utter a sharp response - thank goodness. But I've asked God to keep me accountable and that can be a dangerous request if you don't want to know the truth. The truth is, I need to be more humble and less prideful. I need to remember to pray when someone bumps into my happy - or my window space. I could have left the window down and glimpsed a little bit, now and then, to see if my beloved Rocky Mountains were in sight. This guy doesn't know how much I love the Rockies. Really, he probably wouldn't even care, but that's not the point. He's not my problem. I am my problem. But, there is still hope. God is ever-faithful to keep me accountable, because it is in my - and others' - best interest, and it represents Him so much better than when I act on my own. You see, in my pride, I may think my attitude or my wit is necessary to bring someone back down to size when I think they've gotten a little too big for their britches. In humility, God can show me that I don't do His job well - EVER. It is not my job to size up someone else or jerk them into what I think is their rightful place. It's my job to size up myself and make sure I'm measuring up to God's best for me so I can be the best example of Him to others.
On today's flying lesson, I definitely missed a few things, but I didn't completely miss the point. I'm still a work in progress, but I'm thankful for these grace challenges God affords me. I no longer want to spit on the head or kick the seat of a person who reclines into my lap - thank goodness:-) Flying may be a luxury and convenience, but it sure can be unpleasant and uncomfortable. Such is life. We're not always in First Class. We seldom are. It's better to check my attitude before I ever hit security. Now, THEY, can mess with my happy - if I let them. As always, the choice is completely mine. Flying can be as pleasant as I allow it to be. I can come off a plane grumpy or I can stay in my happy place, no matter who tries to encroach up into it with me. Maybe that's just where they need to be. I should welcome them on in. After all, it's truly the kindest thing to do.
On my next flying lesson, I hope I do much better. I'm kind of looking forward to it:-)
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