There’s a Psalm that says love is patient and kind. I thought I knew what that meant, but today, I feel like I see the idea differently. A friend of mine made a comment about my writing. It really wasn’t a helpful comment, and some people would have been offended by it. When I first read it, I have to admit, I felt a weird little sting in my chest. Yet I knew my friend and I knew that he wouldn’t tell me something maliciously. I decided to take my time and be patient.
Instead of reacting to the comment quickly, I let it sit for several hours. When I did that, I found that I could approach the situation with love that was patient and kind. Here’s what I mean: By taking time and being patient, I didn’t react to the situation. My initial feelings cooled off and I looked at his comment with logic instead of emotion. I understood the situation from his point of view. That leads to the kindness part. Love means being able to understand that just because someone seems like they are being hurtful, they may not mean to be hurtful.
My best example comes from a day I was driving home from my mother’s house. I was in front of the car, and I just happened to move into the left lane and the exact same time as she did. I could tell from the expression on her face and the hand gestures that she made that she thought I was cutting her off on purpose. However, I really didn’t even notice that she was behind me, and it was pure coincidence. From that day on, I realized that most of the time when I got angry at other drivers believing that they had done something just to piss me off, they probably didn’t even realize what they had done. I needed to start approaching my driving with kindness and understanding instead of paranoia and rage.
When my friend made his comment, I could have easily let myself feel hurt. His comment wasn’t the nicest comment, but instead I decided to have kindness and understanding. I decided to believe that this man probably had the best of intentions for me and so I responded to him with kindness. I told him how much I admired him and appreciated his help, but explained how his comment didn’t help. I stood up for myself and yet I approached the situation with love. So, yes, love is patient and love is kind. When I find myself quick to anger, I need to take a step back and remember to approach my life with love.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
