St. Elizabeth had to endure a lot of mistreatment so that she could remain dedicated to serving the poor. She was a model of holiness, able to patiently bear their actions against her. As I try to imagine what it must have been like for her, it’s hard to believe she was so patient. Thankfully, she had the support of her husband for some of the time, but they became really mean after his death.
The idea for this topic came from this article at the Loyola Press website. They pose two question prompts for use with a class who might be studying about St. Elizabeth. Of course, that appeals to my teacher-brain, so I wanted to explore them a bit myself. Hence, this topic today and another one for tomorrow. This prompt, specifically, said “Let the students give examples of how they may be called to bear wrongs patiently.”
What a great discussion starter! Actually, this is a discussion we need to have with our young people more often. It seems that “life lessons” in today’s culture are much more about taking care of yourself at all cost than they are about patently bearing wrongs against us. That’s probably why civil discourse seems to be dying. No one teaches people to be civil anymore!
Of course, social media seems like the den of iniquities as far as this topic is concerned, but every once in a while, there are also bright spots to be found. I’m going to share one. This one has to do with road rage. Someone shared a story of driving down the road and finding himself behind a car with a sign in the back window that said something like, “Please be patient with me. I’m learning to drive a stick shift.” The guy talked about how that made him do just that. He gave the car a little more room. He didn’t get mad right away when it took the car a little longer to get moving from a stop. Things like that.
Then he had the “aha” moment. How many times are we driving down the road and the person in another car does something a little off, like stopping too suddenly or starting too slowly or making a crazy turn? How do we respond when that happens? Is it likely that there is someone in that other car who is learning to drive a stick, or just learning to drive, in general, or maybe suffering from a really bad headache and just hoping to get home soon. People don’t always put signs in their back windows to let us know when they’re having a bad day. Maybe we should just be more patient with people in other cars …just in case!
Along the same lines, have you ever had the misfortune of running into someone who is having a really bad day, and you just happen to arrive at the breaking point? Their frustration from an entire day of problems might just explode in your lap. How will you respond? I think most of the time we respond very defensively and even quite angrily. How much could we change the world if we learned to recognize the signs of a person in crisis and then to show that person love. Could we even turn around that bad day for someone?
Years ago I heard someone talking about having perspective when you’re stuck in a traffic jam. I’m sure we’ve all experienced them before. There’s an accident on the highway during rush hour, and now the whole road is backed up for miles making everyone get home really late. Here is the line that now runs through my head whenever I find myself in that situation: “I guess there is at least one other person who is having a worse day than me.” Thanks to this idea (and I wish I could remember the source, but it’s been years ago) I am reminded in serious traffic jams to say a quick prayer for anyone who might be suffering in whatever event is causing the backup. I have to tell you, it’s difficult to sustain real anger in the midst of prayer. 🙂
So let’s take that lesson from St. Elizabeth of Hungary. She patiently endured the mistreatment that she received, but did not let it stop her from her mission to do God’s work. Let’s all try to find the patience of St. Elizabeth when faced with people who are treating us badly. Maybe we can even learn to find empathy, and try to imagine what might have made someone so angry.
Dear Lord, we come to you today as humble sinners. We know our own weaknesses, and we want to do better. Help us to be more understanding of those around us who might be hurting, even when they take it out on us. Guide us to be the light of hope and love in the lives of the people who need it most.