December 06, 2006
Honestly...
My friend Betty and I were returning home from a trip to Denver when we stopped at a diner for lunch. The soup special of the day was ‘Split Pea with Ham’ and Betty asked the waitress if it was good. Sliding into the booth next to Betty she whispered in confidence, “I’ve got to be truthful, I don’t think so. Now, I haven’t really tasted it, but it looks terrible.” Taking the risk Betty ordered the soup and when it arrived it indeed looked anemic and unappetizing. Just as we finished saying a blessing the waitress walked by and said, “I know why you prayed over that soup…you think it needs all the help it can get!” As it turned out, the soup tasted much better than it looked. While serving others, the young waitress continued to throw quips our way. Revealing that she was a PK she said, “The only hell my folks raised was me!” It’s refreshing to hear an unabashed critique…whether it’s on one’s Christian heritage or on Split Pea soup.
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Gail;
----People often get worn down by critics. That's when you hear them start criticizing criticism. It is really fun when you remember everything they were critizing moments earlier.
----Life throws us into a difficult situation. We must participate in tolerance and acceptance in order to keep from hurting one another, but criticizable errors and shenanigans can also hurt ouselves and others. Do we play to the sensitivity of folks and keep quiet, or do we play to the threats of the environment and level some accurate criticism?
----I like people who have the attitude of this waitress, who will sit down beside you and be straight forward about something even of their own. And though I don't like criticism about what is mine, I appreciate it even more. I feel I have been rescued when a good neighbor has pointed out some circumstance that I was able then to avoid.
----But there always seems to be that lower bound where circumstances just don't quite amount to a bean. And there are so very many of those! The level at which that line is drawn often is at root of contentions between people. The problem of the changing church culture is a good example of criticizable circumstances and differing perceptions of significance. So whenever I start feeling critical (which is most often), before I speak, I try to remember that honesty brings forth valid criticism, and humility drops all but appropriate criticism.
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