October 15
Scripture: Col 3:12
Source author: Elissa M. Schauer
October 15
The Still, Small Voice Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. —Colossians 3:12
Resentment. That’s what I felt. All the rookie high school teachers had lunchroom supervision. I resented it. Yet there I was pacing back and forth, patrolling my end of the cafeteria, attempting to ignore the nauseating odors of lukewarm lunchmeat. So when fifteen-year-old Dan refused to throw his garbage away, I fired back with a resentment-fueled directive to complete his task. His response—a refusal and an expletive— sent the two of us down to the dean’s office. There was the usual consequence (detention and a call home) and we went our separate ways. I was unprepared for a hallway encounter with Dan the next week. Should I (a) exercise my authority (Do you have a pass?), (b) make a sarcastic remark (Did you throw your garbage away today?), or (c) just ignore him? Fortunately, in that split second, another option arrived in a still, small voice: Just say hi. Eye contact, nod: “Hey, Dan.” He was stunned. He expected resentment—and honestly, so did I. But we both experienced kindness that day.
When we express kindness, we can’t help but experience kindness. — Elissa M. Schauer —