My
thought today is about expectations. When it comes to the weather we brits tend
to catastrophise, we expect the worst! Summer comes; the cricket gets rained of,
brollies at Wimbledon and a Glastonbury mudfest. Of course not all our summers are quite such
washouts but we think the worst so that we can make the best of whatever comes.
There are of course sometimes strawberries
at Wimbledon and singing in the rain isn’t always number one at Glastonbury.
Fearing
the worst about the weather is one thing, it has no effect on the weather! However, when we expect the worst of others
we could be creating a culture of mistrust. Stories about child abducting teachers
or failures in the NHS then become evidence that no one else can be trusted,
and when people do let us down it becomes only what we expected.
Of
course nothing I say today can change the weather. But we can change our
expectations of others, perhaps that begins when we acknowledge our own
weaknesses. I read recently of an encounter between two early church fathers. One commented that a certain brother was a
really good man, because he “hated evil.” The older man, Abbot Poeman asked, “What
do you mean, he hates evil?” The younger brother thought for a while and had no
answer, so he asked, “Tell me Father what is it, to hate evil?” Abbot Poeman
replied, “That man hates evil who hates his own sins and looks upon every other
brother as a saint, and loves him as a saint.” I’m not sure about “hating evil” but here’s my
thought for today: treat all those around you today as though they were saints,
you may well get a pleasant surprise!
No comments:
Post a Comment