What's really important?

It’s very important that we don’t sweat the small stuff and live knowing what’s important in life. I say that because today I just witnessed a funeral and I knew the person, who was actually a kind and loving person.  There were so many lives that he touched just by living his life with love and kindness. 

He died of cancer at the age of 38 and he knew he was dying and I remember asking him how was he doing and he said to me face to face, I’m fine but I feel bad for the people who will grieve when I’m gone.  He was a person that never thought about himself and always thought about others.  This really touched me today because this is what God calls us to do.  Love and be kind to one another so that we too can leave with a good witness to all.  It’s very important that we take care of ourselves too but make sure we know the priorities in life. 

I remember talking to him about all of this, actually, I didn’t know what to tell him because I was amazed by His faith and His trust for God.  In memory of Him, I want to share something that he responded to from one of my wisdoms that really touched me and gave me a true meaning of how to understand and deal with others.
 
Wisdom Sent
We all encounter difficult situations in our lives but we can handle every situation with integrity and being positive in what we say and do. Even if we’re right in a situation and the other person is wrong, we can still handle things in a peaceful way to resolve issues.

Sometimes people do things to try to push our buttons but we should never try to resolve anything in a negative way or when we’re angry.  Sometimes it’s better to wait to discuss things when it’s calm.  Nothing gets resolve in anger because when we’re angry anything can come out in what we speak and you have to remember that it’s always two or three sides to a story.

I had an experience today where someone did something out of character but I had to calm down and wait to speak my peace.  I responded by asking what happened and why.  Everyone should be given a chance to speak about things that involves them before we jump to conclusions.  I had mentioned before that we’re here to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  If we don’t give people a chance, how is that acting out of love?  In difficult situations, we need to put ourselves in the other person shoes because if someone just said you did something without you explaining yourself, you wouldn’t like it.

The wisdom in all of this is to always speak the truth with love and kindness because in the end, we all make mistakes and can learn from one another. So when you encounter complicated situations in your life, think before you act and try to handle issues with a positive resolution not anything negative.  You will feel good about your actions and actually represent Jesus in a positive way.

Amen and Thank You Jesus
 
His response
Amen.  As you have often mentioned, people tend to do things out of character when something in their lives has affected them.  They may be running around so much that they let these nuisance greatly alter how they interact with others.  Your patience and love to hear them out, as you often have done with me, allows them to possibly reflect on this a little more.  And if not now, the way you treat them has at least made a difference in not making them fall deeper into the hole they have found themselves in.
 
The oft-quoted response from Pope Francis, “Who am I to judge?” is a gentle reminder of exactly this sentiment.  I wonder if too often, people take that quote and interpret it to mean that we shouldn’t give people feedback if they think differently than us.  But I believe your statement is more accurate; we should be honest, loving, and life-affirming in our comments to enable others to follow Jesus’ path more closely.  Have a great weekend.
 
Let us all learn to love, learn to be kind and learn to be respectful to others so that we can help save souls, save ourselves and be the person that God calls us to be as my friend demonstrated so well.

Amen