In A Rude World, The Answer Is One Day At A Time

Society has grown cold. People don't treat each other so well any more. This seems in keeping with the passage in Scripture that says as evildoing rises, so does coldness of heart. 

"From road rage in the morning commute to high decibel cell-phone conversations that ruin dinner out, men and women behaving badly has become the hallmark of a hurry-up world," notes ABC, reporting on a new survey that found nearly seventy percent questioned felt people are ruder than they were twenty or thirty years ago.

Have we not all noticed this? Have we not noticed the cars that cut us off, the folks who rush to be ahead of us in line, the way we can no longer get an actual human being on the telephone?

Our society has grown cold, and in addition to the effects of technology (which has numbed us), the cause can be traced to self-importance (a hyper-ambition that leads us to live in a way that is selfish and self-absorbed). "A demand for instant gratification has strained common courtesies to the breaking point," notes the report.

Rush rush. Do it now. Give it to me immediately. This is one crisis. The other is simple "unlove": We lack love. We have become self-seekers. The result is inner turmoil and outward frenzy. And the solution starts with stopping -- or at least slowing down.

Half the reason for our rudeness and harried lifestyle is that we try to do to much. We pack too much into a day. We bite off more than we can digest in that quest to "get ahead" -- to get ahead at work, to get to the head of the line. We all need to draw a deep breath and do what the Bible says: take one day at a time.

If this is happening to you, if you feel harried and on a treadmill, ask the Holy Spirit to direct the pace of your life. Begin each morning with prayer and plan your day during that prayer. Don't put too many things in those 24 hours. Be more realistic. It's when you start to build a long list that the anxiety and tension mount, which is then projected outwardly. Let God set your pace.

Many suffer from hypertension, which can also cause "adhedonia" -- an inability to experience joy. This may be an actual spirit, and needs to be cast out. During prayer, cast away the spirit of hypertension in the Name of Jesus and eventually it will leave along with its offshoots of anger, impatience, spitefulness, and sometimes outright hostility. Fill the void left by hypertension with love. This will get rid of resentfulness. Go out as Scripture says: as sheep among the wolves.

When people are rude to you, when they are cold, do not respond in kind. Such only augments the sting and teaches you too to be rude. Respond to ice with nice. The ruder people are, the nicer you should be. The void created when hypertension is booted out should be filled with love that connects you with other people.

This will cause you to glean the best in others. It will let you compliment them. It will bring you peace. If you go through life winging off compliments (right and left!), this will not only rub off but place a shield of warmth around you.

Nice is love. It is also humble. And here we have the key to cushioning ourselves from evil. When it comes to love and humility, the devil can stand neither!

Love shields us in a rude world and sparks a light in the darkness.

Love and humility defeat rudeness. They overwhelm it! When we don't react to insult, God takes over and rights the wrong.

Life is a series of tests, and above all, these tests revolve around love. We hear such constantly from those who have "near-death" experiences. When they return, they tell us that what Jesus wanted most to discuss about their lives was how often and how much they had loved. Think of this! He showed them how they emotionally affected every single person whom they had ever encountered.

Do you realize how good a compliment makes a person feel? How it lights something up in them -- something they will pass along?

We must love in all circumstances -- and must learn to consider each temptation to anger as instead an opportunity to love. Don't let rudeness bother you!

There is the shield of love and the opportunity to transcend the world and draw down special grace every time someone cuts in front of you.

10/20/05

[photo courtesy www.catholicnewsagency.com] 

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