People do rude things sometimes and I don't get angry.
My friends point it out that if people do rude things to me, I must do something about it.
I choose to ignore their advice most of the time.
Some people step on my toes. When I let them be, they climb all over me.
"This is called bullying," says my best friend, "You must learn to stand up for yourself."
So one day, I tell a bully to step off my toes in front of everybody else.
She is encouraged by a bigger bully to hit me. I fall down flat on my face and lie down there till my friends raise me up.
Yet, I am not angry.
"Do you think I did the right thing?" I ask my best friend as she wipes my face.
She tells me to step aside. Her face is red.
"I wonder what makes you so angry" I tell her.
"YOU make me angry" she says.
"Me?" I ask.
"Yes, you just let people step all over you. You let them judge you but you never tell them when they are wrong. It makes me sick."
"Why should I?" I ask.
"Why should I what?" she questions back.
"Why should I judge them?"
"Because if you don't, they think that they are right all the time, that's why."
"Then let them."
"Then let them what?"
"Let them think they are right"
"But they are not"
"Of course, not."
"Then why do you let them?"
"Why do I let them what?"
"Think that they are right?"
"Because they are not."
"Of course, not"
We carried on like this till our conversation ceased making any sense and we ended up laughing.
...
I may be a sentimental fool but there is one thing I know for sure - there is someone else who knows the truth all the time. We do not have to drum it around. He knows the truth because He put it there.
He is the best judge and leads us to where He wants to take us.
The people we meet, the decisions we make, and the events that unfold, good and not-so-good, shape our journey and navigate our way.
The most intriguing thing about this journey is that we don't know how far or where we are going.
It helps to know that someone is guiding us like a Shepherd.
(Picture courtesy: Anna Lemos)
