September 25: Of a Grandfather’s Patience

Isaiah 45:11-48:11

Ephesians 4:1-16

Psalm 68:19-35

Proverbs 24:3-4

"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." - Ephesians 4:2

I was blessed with two interesting grandfathers who, while both intellectually prodigious, were physically chalk and cheese.  My paternal grandfather - Lolo - was an imposing man, tall and powerful, with a voice that had grown gravelly with age.  He was an athlete, and in college he was on the varsity volleyball team.  

My maternal grandfather - Abuelito - was different. To call him diminutive would have been generous. And where my other grandpa was a varsity athlete, the closest he got to athletics was as a mascot for the women's volleyball team.  

It wasn't easy for him.  First people made fun of him; later on, when he served honestly in government, they attacked him more aggressively.  They challenged his reasoning and his decisions, they even questioned his integrity.  

Through it all, though, he kept his cool.  He was always gentle, patient, bearing with the other person in love.  My mom later explained to me he never lost his cool because there was never anything at stake.  He knew who he was, he knew what he knew, he had strength in his convictions - so the accusations, the allegations, were nothing more than empty words, with no weight to them.  

These are trying times for Christians.  People of faith are attacked, ridiculed, ostracized, even cast out.  Churches are burned, images defiled, believers killed for their faith.  It is really difficult to be humble and gentle and patient.  I know it is tough for me.

It would help if I reminded myself there is nothing at stake.  I should know who I am, what Jesus has done for me, how this story ends.  So it doesn't matter what they say, what they accuse, what they allege - there is nothing of mine at stake.  And freed of that sense of loss, like my Abuelito, I should find it easier to be humble, gentle and patient during the attacks.

Father, when enemies gather against us, remind us that You are in control, our security and our worth are in You, and we know how this story ends.  So we don't have to get angry; we can be gentle and patient.  In Jesus's name we pray.