Friday, October 18, 2013
Dealing with angry words, hurts, and slights
Once again we have some wise words from Elizabeth Nordquist’s blog, A Musing Amma on the Patheos website. She writes, “After what we see daily in political brawls and Church confrontations splashed across the media, social and anti-social, we can conclude that civility and manners have nearly disappeared. Moreover, the early Church had its fair share of infighting and conflict. Hence, we have that word to the wise in Galatians that warns that to ‘bite and devour each other’ will lead to a ripping of the fabric of the community altogether. So, what to do when the disagreements become personal, ad hominem, unfair, and painful?” She points out that this happens to all of us at one time or another; we feel hurt and slighted by the words or actions of a friend, family member, or someone from our community of faith— perhaps even from a stranger. Or maybe we’ve caused hurt to someone else. It happened in the early church, too, as she reminds us. So how do we react? And is there something we can learn from such experiences? I think you’ll appreciate what Elizabeth has to say.
