“On remaining open-minded – Only the open-minded can be at peace, for they alone see reason for it.” – Meditations From A Course In Miracles
I am open-minded about other religions. I can see why people choose each faith, and it does not cause internal conflict when I remain open-minded about it. I become debatable, offended, and resentful when I close my mind to my faith and lock others out. This was yet, another lesson I learned recently when my open-minded friends lovingly showed me the error of my ways.
This vicious, hateful, and selfish person I had become disturbed me. I wanted peace, kindness, compassion, love, and understanding, and I was nowhere close to any of that. In fact, I still struggle with it every day.
Yesterday was an excellent example. In the last quarter of our backyard grows poison sumac. We discovered this after my husband grabbed a handful of it earlier this summer. We warned our duplex manager of it, and he or our landlord took no measure to rid the property of this pesky plant.
The other day, my husband and I recycled old 4x4s to plot out our garden for next year. We were careful not to brush up against the poison sumac. Unfortunately, our manager had to remove the wooden pieces. When I asked him why, he stated that the landlord was coming by and didn’t want our landlord to “freak out.” I was upset because we were permitted to have a garden that he was taking away from us. So, when I walked away, I silently cursed him, wishing he would suffer the pains of the poison sumac that he rubbed up against with his legs. No sooner than when those words escaped my lips, I began to regret those thoughts.
It was not his fault that he had to do his job. I had to take a step back and realize that our landlord would have given him grief over a couple of boards lying around on the property. Since I had shut the door, locked it, and immediately threw away the key, I had no peace with my interaction with our duplex manager.
If I had left the door open, I would have seen that he was still suffering from his summer cold. He was doing his job, and he was going to ask permission for me to move my garden to its new location.
I cannot take back the words I said to myself. I can, however, be thankful that our manager didn’t hear them, and I can learn to keep an open mind when interacting with others.
Stacy N. Elliott 