Some people have very good reasons for annoying us.

Wednesday, 8/12/15

Jesus tells you that if your brother sins against you, then you should talk the matter over with him. And, if that doesn’t work, you should get witnesses. If that still doesn’t work, Jesus says you should report your brother to the church.

Now, I don’t feel safe in disagreeing with Jesus, but still, I would like to offer another alternative. Before talking any of those steps, I think you should stretch your imagination until you can bring yourself to see why your brother might be acting in his disagreeable way.

There is a philosophical axiom that states that people always do what seems right to them at the time. It’s like gravity. You hold a pencil out at arm’s length, and you let it go. Every time it will fall to the floor. It’s the same when you must do something with your decision-making process. You hold the decision at arm’s length, and if you  let it go; it will come bang down on what at the time seems good to you.

There are two people I have been annoyed with recently. One was a boy who shows off by holding his hands up high when he is praying in church. The other annoying person is a woman who talks too loud. I couldn’t imagine why they were behaving that way, but rather than letting my dislike simmer, I asked about it.

 I found that the boy’s friends had all embraced atheism, and he was doing all he could to keep in touch with God. And, as for the noisy woman, I head that she has a deaf husband, for whom she has had to talk loud.

 With understanding, it helps to take the word apart. You can get over disliking anyone if you can learn what is standing under the behavior to which you object.