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Thursday, Week Five

An attractive young man stood in the aisle of the plane for almost five minutes, repacking his suitcase so that it would fit in the overhead. He was near the front, so every other passenger behind him had to wait. The delay in boarding caused all the passengers and crew to wait. At first I was angry because of his self-absorbed rudeness. As I watched, though, I realized that he was completely and utterly oblivious to the fact that 100 people were waiting on him. He was totally absorbed in what he was doing.

My Southern mother made being rude a capital offense, and that value is seared into me. The Bible says that “love is never rude.” The question is how do we live civilly in a world where more and more people are so self-absorbed that they are oblivious to their discourtesy?

This young man on the plane finally took his seat and opened a copy of a bestselling Christian author's latest book. While I might want to blame how he was reared, the Church obviously is failing to teach people to live with basic values like civility, courtesy and consideration. Maybe you and I can change that by resolving today to model those values in how we live. For today, let's live in such a way that we make Jesus (and my mother) proud.

Blessings,

Michael Piazza
President, Hope for Peace & Justice

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