Monday, December 16

Matthew 1:18-19
Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 
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One of the mistakes I often make when people are bring complaints to me is that I dismiss them quickly.  I don't validate the emotion that brought them to this place.  I don't look at the issue from their perspective and try to defend or inform before I try to understand.  Joseph was more righteous than I. He chose to be kind to Mary and this child of hers by dismissing her quietly. It seemed to him, in the moment, the right thing to do. It took the intervention of an angel in a dream to thwart Joseph's well-intentioned plan. Where can I get me one of those intervening angels? Would that I could marshall a legion of intervening angels into our lives to keep us from dismissing one another too quickly, too loudly, too thoughtlessly and finding ourselves dismissing Jesus himself utterly and completely.
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Remind me to inhale your kindness before I ever utter a word, Lord.  Amen.