Have you ever had those days when you’d really like to say out loud the words that are going through your head, but because you are a Christian, you can’t or don’t say what you are actually thinking.
Let’s just say (for example’s sake) that you are really in a hurry, but you need to run to the grocery store to grab just a few items. You are thinking it won’t take that long and you’re actually making pretty good time until you round the corner and there standing by the brownie mix that you want (again, for example purposes only) is someone talking on their cell phone. You have three choices:
- Politely ask the person to move.
- Accidentally bump them with your cart, hoping they will move.
- Reach awkwardly around them, trying to retrieve the said desired box of brownies
- (Did I say three choices, you actually have four); Inhale loudly, the frustration coming out of your mouth like a brewing wind, hoping that the person will stop talking long enough to move and when they don’t, you leave without your brownies, spouting a little too loudly that you don’t need them anyway and all the while you are thinking in your head, MOVE, YOU MORON!
The last choice (#4) would be an example of what my mom used to say to me, “Don’t bite your nose off to spite your face.” In short, if you want the brownies, ask the woman to move. Duh!
Why is it so hard sometimes to do the Christian thing and just simply ask the person to please move? If you are like me, you’ve probably done that a time or two, only to have the person angrily give you “the look” reminding you that you are messing up their phone conversation. I can easily concur that our mood for the day can absolutely dictate how we will react to someone blocking the aisles in life for us and how we react to those barriers says a lot about where we are in our Christian walk.
I remember as a teenager waiting for the first date with my now husband. Waiting, I might add, because he was late and I am not a person who likes to be kept waiting, which meant my date was making a very bad first impression. My Mom, ever the voice of reason (after hearing my complaints for the umpteenth time about my late date), said to me, “You have no idea why he is late, so don’t get upset over something that you know nothing about or have no control over.”
“As far as you know,” she continued, “something bad could have happened and you would feel horrible for being upset with him.”
She went on to remind me of a similar situation with my oldest sister. She too had gotten upset over her date being late, only to find out that his family home had burned down. My mom made a convincing case for my late date, which as it turned out, was late because of a train. Yes, trains used to go through small little towns, (still do in some places) impeding traffic and yes, my date had a valid excuse for being late.
Kudos to him for being so worried about being late because instead of waiting out the train, he opted to turn back around, driving to a friend’s house to use their phone to let me know that he was going to be late. And yes, there was a time when people did not have cell phones and for all you post cell phone people, there actually was a time when a “telephone” was attached to the wall, which only permitted you to stray as far as the coiled phone cord would allow. Talk about living in crazy times! Go past that boundary and you’d find yourself having the phone receiver practically yanked from your hand, as the curly phone cord retracted, warning you that you’d treaded outside your allotted distance from the wall. Yes, those were the days when talking took precedence over texting and we actually had to stay home if we were expecting a phone call. Shudder.
Where was I??? Oh yes, my late date. All ended well. We ended up married (several years later), but that didn’t stop me from being completely irritated with him for being late or being completely irritated by someone blocking me from said brownies.
To say I’ve come a long way from irritation with a late date is a huge understatement, I’ve made leaps and bounds, but that still doesn’t mean that I don’t get upset over things, after all, I am human and yes, despite what non-Christians think, we, Christians are flawed human beings and we do get upset. The difference is how we handle ourselves after getting upset. Hopefully, we own up to our mess ups, ask God for forgiveness and move on to another day. After all, as Christians we are representing God and we need to see people through His loving eyes instead of our eyes of judgement.
So whenever someone rudely talks on their cell phone, blocking you from the brownies you want, please consider that just maybe, that person is on the phone because their friend is trying to encourage them away from the dessert aisle, reminding them of their diet. Also consider that the aisle blocker could be talking to a loved one in the hospital or a child away in college. Maybe they’ve just received the call they’d been waiting on from their doctor, finding out that their tests results are okay or worse, not okay.
Point being, we don’t know what another person is going through. We don’t know if the person tailgating us has a family emergency. We don’t know if the rude waitress is worried about how she will pay her electric bill.
Albeit, there really is no excuse for rudeness, but as Christians, there is no excuse for not understanding it and rising above accordingly. So the next time you want to call someone a moron, just remember, you are representing God and smile politely as you ask them to please move. Nine times out of ten, you will get a smile back and an apology, and if instead you get a gruff look of irritation, don’t be offended. Instead, say a prayer for that person who may be having a bad day, say a pray for yourself to be more understanding, but most importantly thank God for His understanding and forgiveness and then go home and make yourself some brownies.