Be Kind

“I am an unhappy woman. I have had neither wine nor liquor; I was only pouring out my troubles to the Lord. Do not think your handmaid a ne’er-do-well; my prayer has been prompted by my deep sorrow and misery.” 1 Samuel 1:9-20

How many times have we judged others and have been wrong about them? Most of the time we do not even know. Here in Hannah’s story, the priest in the temple thought Hannah was babbling in her drunkenness. He did not know that she was deep in prayer from her sorrowing heart. She was barren, but the Lord in her goodness, granted her prayer and gave her a son who would grow up to be the prophet Samuel. 

I think of the climate we find ourselves in today where it is so hard for people to see the fake news from the truth. We forward messages that we have not confirmed or checked the sources of. I get insulted and cursed for saying that a particular candidate can be depended on because of their past record of helping the poor and those with no voice even before they got into politics. People prefer to get their news on TickTock or YouTube or Facebook, not realizing they are being manipulated. They judge candidates based on spliced videos, or a slip of the tongue. What has happened to us? 

If it was not so sad, it would be funny, that on Facebook groups about Downton Abbey or Jane Austen, which I am a part of, people sometimes get into bitter arguments about the pettiest matters. Members insult each other, and say the rudest things! At times, I get surprised in our subdivision group chat, somebody calls out another in public for doing something offensive to him. We used to be a polite people, people who thought first before shooting off a comment. Always, and I remind myself of this, we need to be kind because everyone, no exception, is having a hard time. I guess many are stressed, exhausted, and facing so many battles from all sides. 

Like Hannah, we need to pour out our troubles to the Lord. And like Eli the priest, if we speak out unkindly, we should ask forgiveness, and speak a blessing on those we judged too harshly.