Puffing or Building

This morning, reading Corinthians… ‘Knowledge puffs up but love builds up’. A favourite at our ‘Singing for Health’ group is the old song ‘It ain’t what you do it’s the way that you do it.’ We often make up our own verses. Perhaps one verse could be ‘It ain’t what you know, it’s the way that you know it…

On Monday, waiting at the dentist, I couldn’t help overhearing the receptionist’s telephone conversation…

A mother wanted a dental appointment for her son… He hadn’t attended his last three appointments… Repeated emails and warnings… He was no longer a patient at the practice… There could be no appointment… Mother was upset…

The receptionist didn’t puff with, ‘It’s his fault – let this be a lesson to you!’ Instead, with calmness and kindness, she constructively suggested how the mother could get her son the dental treatment he needed.

I’ve told this story before… Charlie’s been a regular at ‘The Jolly Sailors’ for many years. Some months ago I noticed the bar-manager leaving with a ‘worse-for-wear’ Charlie, taking him home. Recently Charlie’s health has been deteriorating…

Last month I was in The Jolly Sailors. Chris wasn’t there. I enquired… Chris’ health had deteriorated further. He’d been in hospital… I learnt that staff had taken him home every night for months. They didn’t just know Chris, they cared about him.

I’ve been reading Alison Botha’s ‘I Have Life’. Raped, stabbed and left for dead, Alison survived, severe physical and emotional trauma, turning ‘…a devastating experience into something life-affirming and strong…’

Now a motivational speaker she says, ‘Every person that you meet… is as unique as you are and what is going on in that persons life is as important to him or her as the ebb and flow of your own life. Treat people with an attitude that shows that you value them…’

It’s not about knowing them, its about valuing them.

Musing: ‘Am I puffing with knowledge or building with love?’