Learn To Live With Those You Love

Philippians 4:1,5,7b – Dear friends, I love you and long to see you. Please keep on being faithful to the Lord. You are my pride and joy … always be gentle with others. God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel. (CEV)

Prize above all else in the world
those who love you and wish you well.
Do not hurt them or scold them,
and never part from any of them in anger:
after all you simply do not know,
but it might be your last act,
and that will be how you are imprinted in their memory.
(Alexander Solzhenitsyn)

I don't like the morning squabbles that are part of every family's experience when siblings squawk and spouses spout off. It really doesn't make the drive to work any easier, or drying the dishes any more enjoyable or the walk to school any shorter. Why do we hurt the people we love in ways that would shame us if they were strangers.

Solzhenitsyn offers us a wisdom born out of a Soviet Gulag. Will it take tragedy to transform our lives and make us appreciate the loves that are so crucial to our health and well being?

Today is a new day. What should I do about that squabble, squawk, or spouting off right now to ensure that the last memory imprinted on those I love is filled with more than my morning meanness?

Prayer: God of new possibilities: Make possible a new heart and a new spirit in our families and with our friends. Help me never hurt or harm those you have given to make my life full. Let your love lead the way. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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