Yesterday was Saturday, which means pizza night at our house. Since Anka wanted to see how I do the dough, I waited until they arrived...an hour or so late..to make the dough. While we were waiting for it to rise, I asked her about her job. After giving me some idea of what she's been doing, she started to tell me about a young woman with whom she works. One of her first comments was, "I think that she is mentally ill." She backed this up with some observations, mainly how quickly the gal reacts, and how vehemently. I smiled, then sort of laughed. Anka was surprised, so I told her that she doesn't sound mentally ill, just immature.
Just because someone is an adult, by chronological or anatomical measures, doesn't mean that they are a grown up. I shared with her an observation that someone shared with me years ago. We all view the world through our own special veil or filter. Things that happen around me or to me, I view through that filter. I then told Anka about a woman that I knew. She viewed me through a not very nice filter, an "unfriendly, negative, preachy" filter. The look on Anka's face was priceless! She doesn't view me with this filter; most people don't, I've since learned. But I digress. I told Anka that it seemed that when I told this woman that she looked really nice on a particular day, she'd take that to mean that she didn't look nice on another day. If I said she looked good in blue, that must mean that she doesn't look good in red. For Anka, with this co-worker, it might mean that that other one sees her through some filter. She can't change that, just as I can't change how someone sees me. The only filter that can be changed is our own. In some cases, it can boil down to the "darned if you do, darned if you don't" situation, a no win or lose-lose life. Ah, what to do! ; )
So, what sort of veil or filter do I use? How does my behavior reflect that? Is it Christ-like, and what do I need to change to make it more Christ-like? That is the question of the day!
Hmm, maybe it is time to change the filter....
