Devotional 12-5-04

As we center our thoughts on this day – this second Sunday of Advent – we want to remember to be grateful for this gift of a new day that God has given us. We also want to remember that since Advent is the time when we prepare ourselves for the coming of God’s great gift to us, we want to search ourselves deeply and thoroughly, so we can make ourselves ready for Jesus’ coming.

We are all sinners; we make mistakes everyday. But we know that we can learn from these mistakes, and continue to drive to be the best we can, each new day God gives to us. I have a friend who I greatly admire, because of one particular trait he has. I strive daily to imitate this characteristic. The trait is he never says anything bad about anyone. No matter what, he always has something good to say about anyone brought up in a conversation. If he cannot say anything good, he doesn’t say anything at all. I have known him for years now, and I have never ever hear him say anything bad about anyone. EVER!

To me this ability to only speak well of others is just amazing. Friends, family, children – they all drive you crazy at some time. You have to tell someone how the ones you love are making your life miserable. But as this friend has demonstrated to me time and time again, a better way is to only discuss the good points out loud and leave the rest unsaid. The following poem expresses this point better than I can.

Wouldn’t this world be better, if folks whom we meet would say,
“I know something good about you,” and treat you just that way?
Wouldn’t it be splendid, if each handshake, good and true,
Carried with it this assurance: “I know something good about you.”
Wouldn’t life be happier, if the good that’s in us all,
Were the only thing about us that people could recall.
Wouldn’t our days be sweeter, if we praised the good we see?
For there is a lot of goodness in the worst of you and me
Wouldn’t it be fine to practice this way of thinking too;
You know something good about me; I know something good about you.
(Walter Knight)

Let us continue to search ourselves, so we can prepare for the coming of Jesus, for as Paul reminds us in Ephesians 4:29 – “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear.” Amen

Suzanne Ellis