Today's passage from Ephesians 4:1-16 is one of my favorite. It speaks about unity as one people under one God. This particular reading reminds us that God gives us gifts that can help in achieving a goal of unity. It then ends by stating if we begin speaking the truth in love eventually this unity will begin to happen. In my mind there is no truer statement than that; in truthful love we find unity with peace and justice.
So, today's question will be - is unity attained by telling the truth in a loving way what I crave.
As I search for the words to put into this blog I'm thinking about what a co-worker is currently going through. When I saw her on Monday she wasn't her usual bubbly, "hey-how-ya-doing" self. She seemed very tired, dragging her feet as she walked with slouching shoulders. I asked her how she was doing and she simply shrugged saying she would be alright. I could tell something was wrong, but she didn't want to talk more about it, so I didn't push.
Yesterday, as I was going up the stairwell and she was coming down, I again asked her how she was. This time she told me what was going on. Her fiance left her, without giving a reason, on the day before school started. She was completely devastated; as those of us who have been there know.
She asked me if she should go see him and try and find out why he left. I asked her two questions; how badly do you need to know and are you prepared for the answer. She looked me in the eye and , as she processed the answers in her heart, she began to cry a deep, much needed cry.
When she settled down she seemed to have a little more courage, standing a little straighter, her shoulders a little higher. She again looked me in the eye and said she very much needed to know and yes, now she was ready to hear the truth. I don't know what happened with her last night, but I am hoping she'll be in today so we can talk more.
Sometimes the truth might be difficult to take, but if we can find a way to speak the truth with love and respect we can also find a way to continue to have love for each other - even if that love will sometimes hurt.
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