Wednesday; February 19

Have you ever found yourself stuck between two feuding friends?  Whether it was at home, work, school or even out in the community, have you been on good terms with two people who were mad at each other?  While this may seem like an adolescent issue, it can (and does) happen when we become adults.  There are times when we will be called upon to maintain relationships with people who have severed ties with each other.  When that happens, what should we do?  Here are a couple of suggestions:

1.  Maintain friendships with each of the people independent of the relationship with the other person.  Don’t get sucked into the trap of having to choose one relationship over the other.  We should do our best to keep on good terms with both friends.

2.  Don’t talk to one friend about the other.  There is a temptation to get involved in the hard feelings they have with each other.  Sure, if you can be a peacemaker, that’s great, but if not, don’t fuel the flame of bitterness by talking badly of the other person.  In fact, this might be good time to not talk about the other person at all.

3.  Don’t invest in their argument.  In addition to not choosing one side over the other, we should avoid making an assessment of which of our two acquaintances is more “right” than the other.  Each one of them needs a friend – be the support they both need.

         Yes, it can be tough to maintain two separate relationships with people who aren’t getting along, but why should we alienate our friendship with people who aren’t getting along with each other?  I don’t know about you, but I need all the friends I can get, whether they choose to get along with each other or not! 
          Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more