"Become the Best of Us" by Rector Chris Girata
Become the Best of Us was published in the Katy Trail Weekly, "The Good Word" Column, August 27, 2021
Chris Girata is the Rector of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church in Dallas, TX.
As a new school year begins, I can feel the tension in the air. That pressure can seem overwhelming and all-consuming. More than at any time in my adult life, I’m hearing about people reaching the end of their proverbial rope. Over the past few weeks, I’ve had someone stop me or call me to say that they aren’t sure what to do at work, with a friend, for their children and more. This is happening every day, multiple times a day. Given the frequency with which I’m hearing this frustration, I’m going to assume that you are feeling something similar.
There are countless small, messy moments every day when people act in ways that fall short of who they want to be.
We can’t read or watch or listen to the news right now without hearing of the horrible earthquake in Haiti, the confusing trouble in Afghanistan, and, of course, the continued struggle of COVID infections, hospitalizations and the public impact of it all. And those are just the top headlines.
With everything swirling around us, we are still living our regular lives, day by day. But with everything swirling around us, I’m seeing signs that moments of daily living are devolving. There are countless small, messy moments every day when people act in ways that fall short of who they want to be. However, recently, it seems like the pressures of the world are causing larger moments to reveal our shared stress.
Take, for example, the recent HPISD meeting held to discuss the use of masks at school. This is an obvious hot topic, but passionate opinions turned ugly at the meeting. When students got up to speak about how they live with fear because of this pandemic, adults in the room began to heckle them. Adults heckled children. Regardless of the topic, and regardless of where we fall in the mask debate, heckling, ridiculing, and bullying children is not ok, and I bet the hecklers would agree. I choose to believe that the adults who heckled those children want to be kind people, but they got caught up in the pressure and stress of the moment.
When we share our lives with people who help make us better, we can lift one another up.
We all know how it feels to let a moment get away from us. We know that we’ve misspoken and hurt feelings, and repairing relationships is simply part of being human. So rather than pointing fingers at people who misstep, I hope to encourage you to become a partner in helping one another resist the temptation to let the world bring us down. None of us are perfect, but that’s where our friendships — our communities count the most.
Each of us falls short of who we want to be, but when we share our lives with people who help make us better, we can lift one another up. Speaking strong words with deep love takes courage but holding one another accountable to the better angels of our nature is a gift worth giving. It appears that the world won’t offer us much emotional relief anytime soon, so in the meantime, let’s commit to raising each other up. We are made for love, and when we share love with one another, we become the best of who we hope to be.
"The Good Word" Column is published bi-weekly, and can be picked up at the Saint Michael South Entrance.
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