Our behavior is the message we send about who we are

Outside the historic John B. Lindale House in Magnolia, Delaware, once the home to one of the last great peach barons in that state, stands a sign that
reads: “This is Magnolia, the center of the universe around which the earth revolves.”  I could hear the outrage in the response of one of my dear, and funny, friends: "What? There can't be two centers of the universe, and I'm it! Who do I talk to about getting this sign corrected?"

She was being facetious, but there seems to be an outstanding number of people, given their behavior, who would argue Magnolia's claim.

One of them was in the bank drive-up lane today while I was there. Her loud carrying-on through the speaker, after the teller told her she had to come inside to complete a transaction, was an embarrassment for the tellers whom she degraded and an inconvenience for the half dozen drivers who chose the drive-up because it is quicker and more convenient. A bank manager was compelled to come out to her car and talk to her about the situation, while the rest of us waited ... and waited ... for her transaction to be completed.

It seemed this customer's motive was not just to have a problem fixed, but to make herself the center of attention. There was no sense of a "we" trying to correct a problem, but an "I" trying to prove she was right at the cost of embarrassing the "other" and inconveniencing everyone who was unlucky enough to come to the drive-through while she was there.

Thankfully, there are still people who realize that if we are to make a positive difference in the world, if we want to be people who reflect the extravagant love of God, then we need to remember that our behavior is the message we send to others about who we truly are.

Respect, civility, and simple courtesy are not weaknesses in character, but rather show a strength flowing from dignity and self-respect. When we begin to believe we are so important as to be the center of everyone else's universe, we fall short of the nobility that belongs to humanity.

 

Message and Meditation - Child of God

What does it mean to be a child of God? How should that belief about who we are affect our relationships, our choices, our work, how we treat ourselves? 

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Recognizing the importance of the how

If medium truly is the message, as philosopher of communications Marshall McLuhan professed some 50 years ago, then it is essential that an organization or an individual not only identify and embrace the message to be communicated, but evaluate the means by which the message is imparted.

If the message is one of faith and faith's inherent values, it will fall on deaf or hostile ears if we, as the medium, reflect something contrary to the message.

 

 

 

Image obtained from www.thehistoryblog.com

Young Catholic Authors club reveals children’s insight

It was my privilege, recently, to run an after-school Young Catholic Authors club for middle school students. The purpose of the club was to encourage children to value their own thoughts and ideas, and to develop the confidence to share them, especially in regards to their faith. It was a rewarding experience for me; helping young people discover their innate wisdom as they moved through a creative process of reflection, observation, sharing, and, of course, writing. These brief few weeks provided only a mere taste of what it is like to be an author, but it was a wonderful opportunity to unearth the remarkably deep and insightful thoughts of children who are not often credited with such wisdom.

 As Maria Montessori wrote in The Secret of  Childhood, “There is a part of a child's soul that has always been unknown but which must be known. With a spirit of sacrifice and enthusiasm we must go in search like those who travel to foreign lands and tear up mountains in their search for hidden gold. This is what the adults must do who seek the unknown factor that lies hidden in the depths of a child's soul.”