Rudeness

I love it when people say what they mean and mean what they say.

Let your word be "Yes, Yes" or "No, No"; anything more than this comes from the evil one.- Matthew 5:37

In today's Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that their word should be honest and true.  They should not swear, but simply speak the truth.

I like to think I am pretty good at sticking to my word.  When I say I will do something, I do it.  I may regret having committed to it, but I try not to back out.

My problem is not in saying Yes and meaning it, but in saying No when I really don't want to do something.

If I want to say No, I should say it and not delay.  Putting it off doesn't make the decision any easier.  It is just rude.

I wouldn't want someone to leave me hanging, waiting for the inevitable regretful excuse.  If they don't want to come to my party or help me do what I ask, just tell me and let me go find someone else.

Rudeness is when I value my time more than I value yours, when I put my wants and desires before yours, when I treat you the way I would not want to be treated.

So, if I tell myself that I am being kind when I tell you I will think about it, or check my calendar, rather than tell you I don't want to go to your event, I am fooling myself.

I should tell you the truth. 

Wow.  How hard is that?

Maybe we should give it a try and see.  Today I will be honest and say yes when I mean yes and no when I mean no.

Do you think I can do that without hurting people's feelings?

We'll see.

More to come...