Ruth's Book I

Being Polite

    To be a Franciscan is nothing more than being polite and considerate to God and to man. It is practicing what we preach. It is living the “Peace Prayer,” not just saying the words. To be a good Franciscan one doesn’t have to go about telling how much one loves Jesus. Our actions, performed quietly and in a neighborly way, will let other people know that Christ lives in our hearts.

    St. Francis was a very polite little man — little in stature, that is.

    How polite are we? How many of us listen to the other person? It is very impolite not to listen. It is impolite to be unnecessarily insistent. Too often our attitude is, “this is the way it is. I am right. You are wrong,” and even as we recite the words, “Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,” we are insisting on our own point of view.

    How does it come out? Do we change the minds of our, shall we say, opponent, to our way of thinking? Rarely. The other fellow goes on thinking his way and we do the same, and amid the crackling and popping of words, peace is short circuited.

    Franciscanism is Christ-in-action, through us. It isn’t glibly saying the “Peace Prayer,” it is doing what the prayer says. It is basically being polite and tactful. If someone says, “It happened Monday,” we do not have to cut in with, “It wasn’t Monday, it was a Tuesday.” What difference does it make whether it was Monday or Tuesday. Sometimes by not arguing a point,  where we think we are right, we save ourselves from having to eat crow later when we find out that we were wrong all the time.

    Too often we are not exactly polite with Christ. There are a lot of things that Christ said that we don’t listen to. Do we ask ourselves, “does what He is saying apply to me?” or do we say, “It applies exactly to so-and-so.”

    For example, there is the episode when Christ spoke about the Pharisee and the Publican in the Temple. The Pharisee in the temple was conspicuously in  front “Lord-Lording” all over the place while the Publican meekly, with bowed head, stood away in the back. “Lord, I thank thee I am not like that sinner there,” cries the Pharisee rolling his eyes piously back towards the target of his disapproval. While the Publican quietly says, “Lord, have mercy on me a sinner.”

     In which category would Jesus put me, I wonder? Would He see me in the Pharisee or in the Publican? Maybe I’d better take time out and think about these things that Jesus is saying. Maybe I’d better be more polite and listen to him. Maybe I’d better put my feet in the shoes of the other guy and see if they fit my feet.

    When Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men,” He, by no means meant we should, like the Pharisee, point our finger accusingly in the direction of someone else while patting ourselves on the back. What we say about ourselves, as the song says, “... ain’t necessarily so.” Our actions tell the true story, loud and clear.

    “Lord make me an instrument of your peace.”