Reflection
God who loves us knows us. We long to be known, not only from the outside but from within. We feel that if others knew us as we really are, with our hopes, dreams and struggles to be whole, they would have a compassionate and tolerant love for us. Conversely, were we to live for an hour within the mind of another, even that of a social outcast, we would come away humbled and more understanding. We cannot know people from within, only from without and with difficulty despite our love. Not so with God. The Spirit of God has been poured out on us. God has made a home in us.
Sean Caulfield
Prayer
The Spirit of God has been poured out on us.
Action
What does it mean to try to know people from within? Do you make judgments on outward appearances without trying to understand people? What about stereotypes and prejudices? Are they an influence on your opinions? How can you relate to others in a more compassionate way?
Suggested Reading
Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Matthew 7:1-5
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Galatians 6:2
We have to realize that all of us are a complex mixture of light and shadows. The other person is much more than the sum of the little things that annoy me.
Pope Francis
Whenever you feel like criticizing any one…just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.
F. Scott Fitzgerald
We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Accepting all the good and bad about someone. It’s a great thing to aspire to. The hard part is actually doing it.
Sarah Dessen
I think that hate is a feeling that can only exist where there is no understanding.
Tennessee Williams
It is quite clear that between love and understanding there is a very close link…He who loves understands, and he who understands loves. One who feels understood feels loved, and one who feels loved feels sure of being understood.
Paul Tournier
Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.
Dale Carnegie
The reality of the other person is not in what he reveals to you, but in what he cannot reveal to you. Therefore, if you would understand him, listen not to what he says but rather what he does not say.
Kahlil Gibran
Man is always inclined to be intolerant towards the thing, or person, he hasn’t taken the time adequately to understand.
Robert R. Brown