Bound-up hearts

May 18, 2013

In a conversation the other day, I was taken aback

to hear a friend speak of another friend

with judgment and condemnation.

I saw the situation differently.

I could imagine the pain our mutual friend

was experiencing.

The fear.It all seemed so clear to me.But it wasn’t to my friend.

Our default as a society seems to be

to rush to judgment

To condemn.

To find what’s lacking

instead of to seek understanding.

Our hearts seem bound up,

that’s what I think.

But here’s the thing:

we don’t need to dig very far for insight

and understanding.

What really goes on with people is often

just below the surface.

Not very deeply buried at all.

What a kinder world it would be

if we sought to understand

rather than to judge.

I’m reminded of the prayer

of St. Francis of Assisi,

which in part, reads:

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console;

to be understood as to understand;

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned.