Courage
and Kindness
“Life
is mostly froth and bubble,
Two
things stand like stone.
Kindness
in another's trouble,
Courage
in your own.”
Adam
Lindsay Gordon
I
especially like the first line of this poem: “Life is mostly
froth and bubble.” How quickly I forget that. I go about my
days anxious about this and that, making mountains out of mole hills,
and the next day that particular crisis passes, and I move on to the
next. I wonder whether this is true for you, too. We tend to blow
things out of proportion to its actual significance.
Example:
I went to a funeral yesterday of a woman who had been a life-long
member of the church. It is tradition that people are given
opportunity during the funeral service to speak openly about the
dearly departed, and since no one in her family spoke up, some of her
church family took on the task of expressing fondness for her. I
spoke about her late husband, whom I adored, and what a loving
relationship they had. We all said kind things, and yet, I worried
for the rest of the day and into this morning, that what I said may
have offended some members of the family. Truth is, probably not one
single person there even remembers today what was said yesterday, or
who said it, and could care less. We almost always take ourselves
more seriously than anyone else takes us. Froth and bubbles.
Now
and then, it is wise to step back and ask ourselves this question: In
the big scheme of things, how important is this? Ninety-eight percent
of the time, we will answer, “Not important in the least.” We
could even ask ourselves that question BEFORE we spend eight
or ten hours going over everything said or done, and pondering all
the possible consequences. Just think how much energy that would free
up! Take courage, dear hearts, and most of all, be kind.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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