True Inner Peace

There are times, when I can be rather thin skinned… my feelings are easily hurt. And then, I tend to either harbor a grudge, or, lash out… regretting my harsh words later. The following passage, written by Joseph F. Girzone in “Joshua And The Children” really struck a chord with me. It reads:

"What Jesus was trying to do was not to issue an impossible commandment, but to offer the key to true inner peace. He came to bring peace to troubled souls and to show people how to live in a way that would not only lead them to God, but help them find a meaning to life that made sense. He was deeply concerned about people’s inability to find peace. His secret, which he lived himself, was in forgiveness, a forgiveness so complete that it never even allowed itself to take offense. Always try to understand why people say and do the things they do, the inner anguish that gives rise to those things, and then it is hard to take offense. Indeed, you can even pity them. You may reach out and be a brother and sister to those people, never despairing of trying to heal their troubled, tortured souls. Jesus himself lived that way. He never took offense, and his last words were 'Father, forgive them, they know not what they have done.'" – Joseph F. Girzone “Joshua and the Children” Chapter 30 p. 182

After reading this passage, I was so moved. I am intent on trying as hard as I can to try and do this… to follow the example Jesus set for us. If only all of mankind could find the where with all to do the same, the world would be a far better place.

To Snooze or Not To Snooze....

Every morning, our alarm goes off at 6:45 sharp. This year, Russell is in charge of the snooze because he said that "I took too many snoozes, which made us late for work"! HA! So now, that he is in charge, I am learning that he also tends to "take too many snoozes," making us late to work! When the alarm goes off, he slaps it.... and then we go back to sleep for another 9 minutes. And then it buzzes again, and again and again... with 9 minutes in between each buzz. So we're two peas in a pod when it comes to snoozing.

There is one difference, however. My clock runs about 5-10 minutes fast. This is deliberate on my part. Russell's clock is set to the accurate time. We have debated the wisdom of this since we were married 15 years ago and have never come to an agreement. If there is a power outage, and Russell fixes the clocks before I can get to them, then mine is set to accurate time. And of course, this throws me off, which is perplexing to Russell.

I wonder about the psychology of all of this! Yes I know my clock is fast, yet when we finally get in the car, and I look at the clock, I can say.... well, we did pretty good today... we're not as late as I thought we were. And Russell just rolls his eyes at me. And then the great snooze debate begins. Last year, it was my fault. This year, it's clearly his.. and I take great satisfaction in pointing that out!