Sunday, January 21, 2007
Mercy in Action: Neighbors, pebbles, irritations, masks
Here is an exerpt of a neat piece on loving one's irritating co-workers, and shows how acting in mercy is a choice. This is something St. Therese would emphasize, herself in her little way, and this article demonstrates how we can do it in an everyday situation:
By Ann Darcy:
Love your enemies. Jesus demands that from us: "But I say: Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you"(Mt 5:44).
Have you ever worked with someone who grated on your last nerve? Every day becomes purgatory.
Several years ago, I volunteered to help man the phone banks for a fundraiser in my community. We were calling people, asking them if they would be willing to go door-to-door in their neighborhoods, seeking donations to fund medical research. We worked from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m., hours when it's easiest to find someone at home. Unfortunately, it's also the dinner hour and time when families relax together. People do not appreciate being interrupted by a telemarketer, even for a worthy cause.
I've heard it said that it isn't the mountain you must climb, but the pebble in your shoe that makes the journey difficult. Well, the mountain I had to climb was the verbal abuse I received at times when my call was unwelcome. The pebble in my shoe was the woman assigned to the seat next to mine. I'll call her Della. She spent much of her time doling out criticisms on everything I did, from the color ink in my pen, to the order in which I called the numbers. She chewed and snapped gum. (more)
In some ways, even though they are more aggravating, it is easier to learn to love our irritating neighbor. What gets hard is when we need to act with mercy towards people we don't see...They become abstracts to us, carictatures of the real men and women, good and bad as we pigeonhole them by name. Frogs. Towelheads. Freepers. Geeks. Slanteyes. And the list goes on and on. We do it to individuals, too. The Chimp. Imanutjob. Saddam Insane. These are all the devices the dark uses to help us to demonize, minimize, and have reasons not to see the people as children of God. It's so easy to do. And once done, it's so hard to re-see the people as who they really are.
And yet, God calls us to a higher standard than that. Can we see the irritating one as a person instead of a pain?
By Ann Darcy:
Love your enemies. Jesus demands that from us: "But I say: Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you"(Mt 5:44).
Have you ever worked with someone who grated on your last nerve? Every day becomes purgatory.
Several years ago, I volunteered to help man the phone banks for a fundraiser in my community. We were calling people, asking them if they would be willing to go door-to-door in their neighborhoods, seeking donations to fund medical research. We worked from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m., hours when it's easiest to find someone at home. Unfortunately, it's also the dinner hour and time when families relax together. People do not appreciate being interrupted by a telemarketer, even for a worthy cause.
I've heard it said that it isn't the mountain you must climb, but the pebble in your shoe that makes the journey difficult. Well, the mountain I had to climb was the verbal abuse I received at times when my call was unwelcome. The pebble in my shoe was the woman assigned to the seat next to mine. I'll call her Della. She spent much of her time doling out criticisms on everything I did, from the color ink in my pen, to the order in which I called the numbers. She chewed and snapped gum. (more)
In some ways, even though they are more aggravating, it is easier to learn to love our irritating neighbor. What gets hard is when we need to act with mercy towards people we don't see...They become abstracts to us, carictatures of the real men and women, good and bad as we pigeonhole them by name. Frogs. Towelheads. Freepers. Geeks. Slanteyes. And the list goes on and on. We do it to individuals, too. The Chimp. Imanutjob. Saddam Insane. These are all the devices the dark uses to help us to demonize, minimize, and have reasons not to see the people as children of God. It's so easy to do. And once done, it's so hard to re-see the people as who they really are.
And yet, God calls us to a higher standard than that. Can we see the irritating one as a person instead of a pain?
Labels: Love of Neighbor
Subscribe to Posts [Atom]
