The End of a Year

Another year is over.  We have ambiguously determined that about ten days after the winter solstice a new year begins.  It's interesting to see how many things we take for granted are basically ambiguous.  Our perception colors everything we believe about the world.  Our unrecognized biases flavor our arguments and reasoning processes.  In order to avoid letting these ambiguities and biases harm our relationships with others and with the Lord, we have to develop charity.

Marvin J. Ashton had this to say about charity.

Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other.

My prayer for the new year is that we can all develop more charity for one another.