You Have My Chair

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. Proverbs 16:24 NIV

I hit my toe on the edge of a cabinet this morning. It hurt. Later I broke a nail. Hurt my feelings more than any pain in my finger! But as I looked at the broken nail, with a heavy heart I was reminded of how insignificant it is compared to the pain and suffering of the families around the world who have lost loved ones to brutal murders. I am remembering the “21” who are much more than a number. I haven’t forgotten Jim Foley, Peter Kassig, or Kayla Mueller. The brutal murders at Benghazi. The Japanese workers. Just so much pain and heartache in the world.

Last weekend we attended a class on fruit trees. We arrived early to an empty classroom. I chose two seats near the front to get better sound recording of the class. As I waited for my husband to take his seat beside me, I enjoyed a cup of coffee and became absorbed in reading the class handouts I found on my seat (hint, hint). As the room began to fill with other attendees, I felt someone standing beside my chair. Looking up, I was startled by the cold, hard stare of a woman who was saying to me in a growling voice, “You have my seat.” With over 100 seats in the room, how in the world I chose her seat is beyond me!

Apologizing, I didn’t hesitate to move (to the front row, one row up!) and keyed 911 into my cell because it would be needed shortly for the heart attack the lady was sure to have. She was breathing hard, beet red in the face, and I could feel the flames of anger at my back. Thankfully, after a few minutes, she regained her composer and I never made the call. Later, we became…no, I can’t go that far, but we did have a calm and interesting conversation about growing figs. And I saw her smile.

I enjoyed the class, but spent much of the time thinking about things that cause us to become angry at others. Road rage. Checkout lines. Facebook and other social media posts. Words spoken (or words typed) that are often misunderstood. I am sure we all can add to the list. But how important are they when compared with the evil happening in our world, even knocking at our door?

God help us all to put things in perspective, pray for patience, wisdom, and kindness. Show love. Be slow to anger. Be ready to forgive and forget. There are far greater issues in this world than getting our feelings hurt and then in turn, hurting others. And if I read it a thousand times, then it has probably been said many times over, “Be kind. Do not judge. You never know what challenges, pain and suffering someone is going through.” Before you react, just breathe deeply, say a prayer, and let God use you as a healing balm. Lately, I have been on both sides of the line where I needed kind, loving words and then later, I needed to be the one to give them.