I think of myself as a peace builder. I honour the dignity of others and often remind them of it when they doubt themselves. But I also have a strong, arrogant tendency to believe I am right. This tendency runs counter-interference to my attempts to building unity. It hinders harmony and concord and instead reinforces division. This manifests itself in wanting to do things my way, mistakenly thinking that I am being sensitive to the feelings and thoughts of others. I saw this play out for me this week. I wanted to desperately help a friend see what I consider to be blindspots that they have in relation to a situation. I contacted them, they responded and were eager and open to converse. I wanted our conversation to go a certain way and be in the manner I wanted it to be. We didn't get to the matters of importance at all because I lacked courtesy and love in my words and tone of voice. My friend was upset and hurt. I made a difficult situation even more difficult. So I sat here this morning reading the Respect card and realised that I did not honour my friend's dignity. I ought to have acknowledged the willingness it took to reach out in the first place, in what I know is a situation fraught with intense, hard and painful emotions. I know I have to now, work to rebuild the trust I have so carelessly squandered. I know that I have this innate longing to have a sense of purpose and worth in the relationships I have with others, it is not so incomprehensible then, that others should have the same longing and expect respect from me!
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