An older gentleman feared his wife was getting hard of hearing. So, one day he called her MD to make an appointment to have her hearing checked. The doctor could only get her in on a Tuesday, three weeks away. The receptionist, however, did say, “There’s a simple informal test you can do in the meantime. Start out about 40 feet away from her, and in a normal conversational tone, see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a response.”
That evening, the fellow was in the living room, and his wife was in the kitchen cooking supper. Being about 40 feet away from her, he asks, “Honey, what’s for supper?” She does not respond.
He then moves 10 feet closer, and again asks, “Honey, what’s for supper?” Again, there is no response.
He proceeds to move even closer, and asks, “Honey, what’s for supper?” She does not respond.
By now, the fellow is about five feet away from his wife. He again asks about supper for the fourth time. This time she turns around, looks him straight in the eye, and says, “Darn it, Earl, for the fourth time, we are having chicken!”
That is an old story, but the point is still very valid. What is the point of that story? Jesus gives us the answer in Matthew 7. He says, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is a log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
In a few short weeks, many of us will gather with our families to celebrate Easter. I don’t know about you, but often such occasions lead me to think judgmental thoughts, or say judgmental words. Anyone else been there and done that? If we are honest, probably all of us would answer, “yes.”
In addition, I’ve also noticed that sometimes the things I’m most critical about in others are also in me. Anyone else found this to be true? Again, probably most of us would say, “yes.”
I’d like to suggest another way — grace-filled thoughts and words. Why not give this a try during the coming holiday? I guarantee you’ll be glad you did!
— The Rev. Bill Kerr is pastor at United Methodist Church in Litchfield.
