Sometimes I wish Emily Post was still alive. I have unanswered questions regarding being polite. I was at the supermarket and while going down aisle one I met a man coming toward me. We greeted. A few moments later, because we were going through the aisles in opposite directions, we met again in aisle two and then in aisle three and again through twelve aisles. How many times did I have to greet this man without being a cold snob? Did the first greeting count for all the encounters that followed?
I had a church member once who tried to take Paul’s counsel in I Thessalonians 5:16 literally. Paul wrote, “Pray without ceasing.” I had a difficult time explaining that Paul meant that we should live with God as a companion and not that we should be constantly forming and articulating actual sentences. I’m sure, unless the person was extremely creative, there was a lot of repetition going on. One would become a human prayer wheel.
When one lives with another person one does not, unless you want to drive the other insane, talk all the time. Often times silence is wonderful. We live in such a noisy world that having some quiet time is to be desired and is very beneficial. There is something healing about being able to hear the blood circulating through one’s ears. That’s as much quiet as we can achieve. Praying without ceasing is living with God, who understands our preferences. Some people are very quiet upon awakening. Others are bright and verbal. You don’t have to articulate anything for Him to know you love Him.
Now, if only someone could resolve my supermarket dilemma.
Written by Roger Bothwell on September 29, 2016
PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org