I am irritated “by the baggage retrieval system at Heathrow…”
Okay, I 'borrowed' the phrase from a 'Monty Python' song, "I'm so worried." That doesn't sound very 'holy' - and it certainly isn't very holy to be getting irritated as easily as I do. That's what irritates me.
Just this past weekend I observed (notice I didn't say that I 'learned') a great lesson when the baggage retrieval system of American Airlines failed to produce a very important piece of luggage for our youngest daughter when she deplaned at LaGuardia in New York.
She was arriving in New York to work with a UN agency on a project very important to the feeding of millions of people in third-world countries.
Thirty plus hours later, that brand-new, first time used, piece of luggage was delivered to her battered and broken. I was very irritated about the entire state of affairs with our airline industry...she was so grateful that her luggage had arrived.
Why didn't I, the 'spiritual leader,' have that grateful attitude? I wasn't even the one 'offended' - yet I was (offended, that is).
Proverbs 14:29 "A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly."
Impatience has been stamped upon my visage for as long as I can remember. It isn't a temperament I tried to develop - it's an immaturity I've never outgrown.
Years ago I heard it said about a high-octane fellow that his 'type A' personality precluded him from tolerating tardiness, inefficiencies, and any lack of quality.
I thought at the time that our society has developed a mechanism for rewarding petulant childish behavior. Somehow I can see this very clearly in others, and only after-the-fact in myself.
Hey, high-octane guys and gals, get a grip! Any three year old can exhibit impatience when something isn't handed to them as quickly as they want it.
If you want to be a leader, develop understanding. That only comes with patience. Otherwise, one tends to look like a fool...been there, done that, too often.
A patient man has great understanding, but a quick-tempered man looks like a fool.