Thanksgiving Morning, 11-24-2011

It is funny how we should show respect to members of our family first and foremost, yet we are rude and mean spirited to them more than anyone else. Perhaps because we know that they "will always be there" and, hypothetically, we just have to keep "dealing with" each other. Do we really want anyone, even family, to feel obligated to "deal with" us? Imagine if we as family members spoke to each other with the same respect we wanted to be treated with, and what if we were all genuine in the way we spoke to one another? What if we spent less energy in a frantic "everything must be perfect, I am too busy to think about how what I am doing makes you feel" mode? How would this place look different? I have been letting my disappointment and hurt (over my needs not being met) taint the way I am thinking of others in my head and thus also tainting my words towards them. Lord, I need Your help. Help me see outside my own perspective and understand my interactions and other people's actions more as You see them. You see all angles, Lord, help me to understand.