ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
September 14, 2025
There is a short but wonderful quote attributed to Mother Teresa. It reads, “Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless.” I believe this to be true, in part, because I know the opposite is true. A few weeks ago, I had a parking pass for a garage. However, when I arrived at the gate, the QR code failed to scan. Instantly, cars began to form behind me, and the honking commenced. There was an attendant, but she was busy with a car that was exiting. Someone from a car behind me yelled, and though I won’t write in this Etching what was said, I’m pretty sure it is not anatomically possible. Even when the attendant started walking over, someone yelled that I should have been prepared. But I was. The attendant was kind and confirmed that I had the right QR code, yet she didn’t know why it wasn’t working. She apologized, pressed a button, and I was in.
It is amazing how much that experience bothered me, and maybe sharing what occurred will be somewhat therapeutic. As I thought more and more about the experience, what troubled me was not so much the harshness of the language, but that these were my neighbors. Maybe not in the literal definition, but don’t you think it is one of those situations deserving of a little grace? In Ephesians 4:25, the Apostle Paul writes, “So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak the truth with your neighbor, for we are members of one another.” For Paul, truth was the Gospel of kindness, compassion, and love. If people will treat someone in that sort of setting with such ugliness and absolutely no hint of compassion, what should we expect when things are more challenging and the outcome is more consequential? I encourage us all to take the opportunity of this day to find a way to speak with kindness, to practice the Gospel when the circumstances and consequences are not terribly significant. Practice, learn, and do better.
Help me to see, O Lord, how every moment is an opportunity of sharing your love with the world. It is not about picking and choosing, but growing my capacity to be Jesus-like when it’s easy and when it’s hard. Amen.
