Tolerance

[aspen]

I am sitting in a coffee shop right now with ear buds in and I am getting distracted and irritated by a women who appears to be conducting a divorce over her cellphone. Earlier today, I waited while my neighbor refinanced his home at the ATM, or at least it felt like it.......

Whether I am getting cut off or run over on the road, or held up in the express line by an entitled man who is buying a cart load of groceries and demanding his second price check, I am becoming convinced that I am engulfed in a world of 'Gimmie!!'

Yet, I am called to be tolerant and loving towards my neighbors.........

So, I have started praying for all the neighbors I meet and thanking God for all the times people have been tolerant with me. I cannot say it is natural or easy, but I am hoping that surrender and practice will lead to greater ability to exercise my sanctification.

How do you practice patience and tolerance with daily irritations?

 

[JB_Reformed Baptist]

I am sitting in a coffee shop right now with ear buds in and I am getting distracted and irritated by a women who appears to be conducting a divorce over her cellphone. Earlier today, I waited while my neighbor refinanced his home at the ATM, or at least it felt like it.......

Whether I am getting cut off or run over on the road, or held up in the express line by an entitled man who is buying a cart load of groceries and demanding his second price check, I am becoming convinced that I am engulfed in a world of 'Gimmie!!'

Yet, I am called to be tolerant and loving towards my neighbors.........

So, I have started praying for all the neighbors I meet and thanking God for all the times people have been tolerant with me. I cannot say it is natural or easy, but I am hoping that surrender and practice will lead to greater ability to exercise my sanctification.

How do you practice patience and tolerance with daily irritations?

Where's tolerance in the scriptures? Could you mean long suffering, patience but you didn't know where to find it. Sounds like another RCC social gospel call. B)

 

[aspen]

Sounds like another RCC social gospel call. B)

Thanks for the compliment!

Actually, this post is about living out the call to love your neighbors and the difficulties that arise from turning the other cheek and going the extra mile. You see, Christianity is not meant to be contained in a book - it is a lot more than trying to keep theories pristine. In fact, the Christian life is supposed to be exercised in your daily life, not reserved for declaring your righteousness in the name of Jesus on a message board.

So, how do you practice loving your neighbor though tolerance and patience?

 

[Angelina]

This is a very interesting and thought provoking question aspen2. :huh:

So, how do you practice loving your neighbor though tolerance and patience?

My neighbor use to park his car on the little section in front of my property which was divided by a footpath. This would annoy me greatly because the sections in front of his property was extensive. For some reason though...he would park in front of mine`. I would have to go ask him to move his car every time that section needed mowing and it began to be irritating when his friends came over and parked there as well. I could not understand why he would not park in front of his own section. Anyway....I began to pray for his salvation and his car stopped being parked there...his friends stopped parking there also LOL!

Bless ya!

 

[aspen]

Thanks Angelina - I think God really straightens out our attitudes and helps us to overcome. Prayer is renewing of the mind and heart.

 

[Rex]

Just don't park on her lawn

 

[Angelina]

Just cleaned up this thread...please keep to the O/P

Thanks!

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

Rex .... I have to side with Aspen on this one ..... he was simply sharing some frustrations about irritating people in life ..... why dump on someone for sharing life's frustrations ?

 

[Rex]

If that was aspen intent then my mistake.

Is there another place I may have misunderstood aspens message? I doubt it
It's really hard for me tell sometimes, he switches gears so fast as he's confronted with the things he says, it's rather hard to tell when hes using tongue in cheek or avoiding another confrontation about what he just said.

I am quite pleased with aspen admitting that he believes the Gen creation story a myth and chooses to believe sciences account of life.
You can't have a conversation or talk about beliefs when one party is always saying contrary things concerning their faith. Their simply not being truthful.
I'm so accustom to aspen using this tactic its rather nice of him to finally start admitting what he believes. He's a councilor he knows exactly what I'm talking about, he certainly can't discuss someones opinion or feelings about a subject unless the client is being truthful with him, its the same in any conversation.

 

[Arnie Manitoba]

Most of the time when people do irritating things to us they do not even realize it.

We are too polite sometimes by not pointing it out to them. I have learned not to be so polite .... I sometimes become the irritant .... and it works wonders ..... here are a couple of quick examples ....

A popular coffee-donut shop here typically has a lineup at the counter about ten people deep ..... and sure enough some lady will stand there gazing at all the menus and donut displays until it is her turn to order.

It is just like she woke up from lala land and realized she is in a donut shop and has to order something .... so she stands back again and starts looking at all the donut display for 5 more minutes trying to figure out what the hell she wants.

From the back of the lineup I blurt out .... for gosh sakes .... you stood there for 10 minutes and you still dont know if it should be chocolate or glazed ...... you are holding up 10 busy people who know what they want .... it is amazing how fast the lineup moved after that ..... and all the nods and smiles from everyone who felt the same way .... but were afraid to be impolite.

So of course I blurt out the fact that I dislike being so impolite ...... but the person holding up 10 people in the lineup was being10 times more impolite than me.

We have a large WalMart here with 30 cash registers ...... but most of the time only one or two are open and the rest are closed ..... trouble is there are tons of people lined up waiting endlessly to pay for their purchases. They are just as frustrated as I am.

With a big smile I will make a big display by standing under one of the overhead monitoring cameras and say in a loud voice ..... if I was the manager of this store I would open a bunch of cash registers ...... this store makes all it's income when the cash registers are all humming right along .... any Walmart manager that restricts this flow of income should be fired and sent paving streets for a living ...... and then they should hire me to manage the whole store .... i would straighten it out within one week ..... this is elementary storekeeping ... this is not complicated ....... Sam Walton would be turning over in his grave if he saw what was going on here.

Most of the people clapped and cheered ..... they had been thinking the same thing ...... and guess what ...... within two weeks the store made sure plenty of cash registers were open at the busy times.

The one thing i will refrain from telling is about the neighbor who kept taking my private parking spot ..... to tell that story i would have to forget i am a christian gentleman and dig up all my favorite swear words reserved for special occasions .... :)

Suffice to say he no longer parks in my spot.

 

[JB_Reformed Baptist]

How do you practice patience with daily irritations?

By enduring it according to the sovereign will of God. By bearing under the yoke of Christ. By abiding in him.

 

[aspen]

Arnie, haha.....I can relate to everything that you've said, but I am shocked because you are Canadian! Everyone I know up there thinks I am too upfront :)

Ok so you have a direct approach; I have to admit that I try to endure all the frustrations because I used to always be the person who said something and was sorry later. It made me feel good in the moment, but I always felt bad eventually. Here is an example: I was apart of a catholic class called Just Faith which is all about becoming more aware of homeless people and social service - anyway, this leader decided that we needed to all show up at this event that was being held in two days without giving any notice. I was already disgruntled because this class required us to read 20 books and go to class three nights a week - I was also in graduate school at the time. Anyway, I volunteered to carpool several people to the shelter - when we showed up, no one was there. When we got to the next class this leader started laying into us because he heard that we did not show up (he didn't bother to be there, himself) - he was over the top and laid into the shame and guilt. After about 10 minutes of rant, he discovered that he gave us the wrong location. I lost it. I was cool and collected, but I basically pantsed the guy right in front of everyone. He just sat there with his shame face - totally devastated. I felt like total crap. After that, I knew I had to turn that impulsive anger over to God because I realized what a sharp tongue I had and that it could really hurt - all of a sudden it didn't matter if he deserved it or not.

So, for me, I know I cannot allow myself to speak up because I know the damage I can do and it is not compatible with servanthood. Don't get me wrong - I am only speaking for myself, I am not offering any advice.

BTW Rex, nothing I said tonight about the creation story is new - I have been saying it for years on this board - it has been a thorn in Foreigner's side every since. So you can pretend that I am finally admitting what I believe and finally getting honest, but it only shows that you have not been paying attention and that you are new to the board. I have been posting consistent ideas here since 2009.

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

An RCC social gospel call? Do you just search for opportunities to jab Catholics? But the larger point is well taken that the biggest problem with the American Catholic Church is the Democrat Party and a warped, unorthodox view of "social justice" which includes all the Left wing buzz words such as "tolerance", a concept practiced least by the most vociferous acclaimed advocates of it.

 

[aspen]

I am a Catholic. JustFaith is a Catholic program. BTW, my Benedictine monastery is in Idaho.

 

[This Vale Of Tears]

I am a Catholic. JustFaith is a Catholic program. BTW, my Benedictine monastery is in Idaho.

I'm glad to have a fellow in the Holy Faith on this board! As you can clearly see, my comments were directed at somebody else. I love the Benedictine order and I listen to the Gregorian chants regularly. It is such a blessing!

 

[aspen]

Cool! I love Chant. I misread your post - sorry about that.

 

[Rach1370]

"How do you practice patience and tolerance with daily irritations?"


Very, very difficultly! It's a personal weakness of mine, and it's exacerbated by the fact that I have a chronic illness....hate waiting in line? Boy, then just add on the fact that standing upright for any length of time makes you feel like you're going to faint!! Actually, when I can 'step back' from the situation, it's quite interesting....it's like my body goes into 'flight or fight' mode....starts shaking, sweating, and I get this insane urge to wack the person in front of me! So I have to breath deeply, think of good things, and sway from side to side (this helps!!).

It also doesn't help when the lady in the checkout line in front of me apparently knows the check out chick, and they're having this great long chat...taking 15 minutes (I kid you not) to scan 3 apples, when I've just recieved a call from my mother, who is watching my son (who is autistic), telling me to hurry home as he's getting very agitated. It's really easy to wait then!!!

Honestly...it's not easy to put up with some things...but I think the key to it is try to view each and every person as someone God loves, and someone who needs God very badly. I think it also should impact on our own behaviour. Do we do any of that stuff that drives us insane? Do we hold others up, do we thoughtlessly park on someones drive? Do we think we can be rude to others or conduct our drama over the airwaves so others can hear? We DO have God, so it kind of behooves us to funnel any frustration we feel back into ourselves and consider our own hearts and actions.

Course....thinking that and doing that is not always the same thing! Ah well....work in progress. That goodness God is patient, huh, even when we struggle to be?!