HOW SHOULD WE RECORD LIFE'S HURTS?

HOW SHOULD WE RECORD LIFE’S HURTS?

Two African friends, Lesiba and Nomsa, were walking together on the edge of the Sahara Desert.  At some point in their journey, they had an argument, and Lesiba slapped her friend in the face.  Nomsa, who had just gotten slapped, was feeling quite hurt.  Without saying a single word, she wrote in the sand, “Today my best friend, Lesiba, slapped me in the face.”

They kept on walking until they found an oasis; there they decided to take a bath.  Nomsa, who had been slapped by her friend, got stuck in quicksand and started sinking and drowning.  Naturally her friend, Lesiba, saved her life by pulling her out of that thick and deadly mire.  After she recovered from her near drowning experience, Nomsa scribbled on a stone, “Today my best friend, Lesiba, saved my life.”

Lesiba, who had earlier slapped and later saved her best friend, Nomsa, asked this question: “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand, and now, you have written on a stone.  Why?”

Nomsa replied with a knowing smile, “When someone hurts us, we should write it down in sand, where the winds of forgiveness can erase it, but when someone does something good for us, we must always engrave it in stone, so nothing can ever erase it.”

For your own health and well-being, learn to write your hurts in sand and carve your blessings in stone.

Along life’s pathway, I have encountered people who record the faults and failures of others on an emotional abacus.*  That is, they keep an intentional mental record of offenses, and this stored information largely influences their future dealings with others.  However, the Word constrains us to react to hurt in a decidedly different manner.  In the words of St. Paul, love “does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” (I Corinthians 13:5-7)  

My friend, it’s self-examination time.  How is your love life?  If others were to examine your emotional abacus, would it reflect a ‘score tally’ of personal offenses, or powerful blessings?

(*) An ABACUS is a counting device that consists of a frame which holds vertical rods that contain beads which can be moved to record numerical values.

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING. Maranatha!