Just a quickie - I think.
Galatians 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
Many days, I feel I'm exhibiting at least some of the above fruits - not that I can really be the true judge of that. I've had people say that maybe I have too much patience sometimes. I also have to admit that over the past few years, these traits have certainly been lacking during specific periods of the year. Ladies, you understand, right?
What triggered this Blog post? I was helping a friend (delayed in the US for family medical reasons) and thus was at a Salon trying to explain a situation/change and appointment for her. The Salon employee was frustrated by my attempts to explain things in German. She spoke very fast, in Swiss German, and didn't really listen to what I was trying to say.
The customer with her soon started translating and helping. She was watching and listening. She asked questions and I answered them, in German. Soon -mission accomplished. But I admit to feeling a little frustrated myself. I have been taking lessons for almost 2 years and while I am nowhere near fluent, I can express what I need in most situations. I find few people who can't understand me when I/they try.
As our world continues to get a little smaller and as we encounter more that is unfamiliar to us on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, I encourage you to draw on a little extra kindness and patience.
The person you run into, that you can't seem to understand, may be really trying hard. It just takes a little longer to slow down - and it's OK to ask someone to slow down, I do it frequently enough. They may be really capable and intelligent in their own environment and are struggling with feelings of incompetency in their new environment.
Just something to think about. I know I really appreciate it when others are patient with me.
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2 comments:
Wise words. It doesn't take much to really LISTEN for a change, does it. Thanks for the reminder!
"The person you run into, that you can't seem to understand, may be really trying hard."
this mentality has really helped me here at seminary. we have a LOT of international students here, some which are more comfortable with English... some can hardly speak it.
and we try to help. try to listen. try to be patient.
thank you for reminding me again.
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