Jan-137acrop2Some of you have heard me bemoan the fact that politics brings out the worst in people. In the past two years during the long election months, unkind words were posted daily on social media. Some of the nicest people I know posted truly nasty remarks about the bad guy who was lower than dirt–you know, the other party’s nominee.

It saddens my heart when Christians sink to the level of those who don’t know the ways of living in love. I don’t mean to imply that we shouldn’t have strong opinions. We should speak out on issues and let the world know what we believe. But we need to check our inclinations to be unkind just because the “bad guys” are in power.

We’re told to pray for our enemies, to honor our leaders, to prefer others–lots of reminders to behave ourselves and monitor our tongues. It’s not easy. Lately I’ve been telling myself that such lofty and disciplined behavior needs to start with…me. So maybe I need to stop complaining about other people’s bad behavior and just manage myself. I have plenty of opportunities to try this new strategy because I’m surrounded by people of the opposite political persuasion–in fact I’m married to one.

We know so little. We don’t understand how the world was created, how our own bodies work, what the future holds. We think we understand quite a lot. Not really.

Today I read a post on Jennifer Slattery’s website, Jennifer Slattery Lives Out Loud. Her tagline is Learning to follow Christ one day at a time. Today’s post was entitled Can Being Kind Nourish You? She went on to talk about a study in which it’s been shown that children who are kind are also happier. Well, that makes sense. Those who fight and fuss all the time don’t often get to the happy part of life.

I want to get to the happy parts of life. How about you? The things that seem so important today will be just memories in years to come. The way we treat each other will stay with us and either strengthen or weaken the bonds of love. If I want to be a conduit of God’s love to the people around me then I have to get ME out of the way: my ideas, my understandings, my desires. I have to remember I’m imperfect.

Showing kindness to others protects our spirits and nourishes our souls. It’s a very good thing.

You can find Jennifer Slattery here: http://jenniferslatterylivesoutloud.com/2013/01/24/can-being-kind-nourish-you/