Faith

 

Faith is to believe what you do not see;

the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.  

Saint Augustine

 

I am glad I seldom know what people are saying about me on any given day. Judging by what I read and hear on TV, Facebook, blogs, magazines, radio and the newspapers, there are a fair number of people who think they have sized up others and have written them off. Pretty sad.

 

At a minimum, St. Augustine is saying, in effect, "You will come to inhabit the world you envision."  Cynicism, caricatures, misstatements, over-statements, and assumptions will only lead to a worst world. While we may not be aiming for a worse world, that is where we will be if we do not examine our speech.

 

While Jesus did seem to have people sized up pretty well, he listened and encouraged and, at times rebuked. James in his Epistle tells us we set our own world ablaze with our knee-jerk speech. He further tells us that we should be slow to both speak and get angry. Jesus said anger that treats another human being as an object (no longer a person) is murder. Pure and simple.

 

And the crazier more zealous speech often comes from those who claim to follow Christ.

 

May you trust in the world you truly wish to be a reality. May you believe that each people is more than a caricature of an idea or opinion. Listen today. Assume nothing. See that person as someone Christ died for. He did. I pray people see you that way as well.