FAMILIARITY BREED CONTEMPT

If you ever wondered if this saying was true, be trapped in a full house during a COVID-19 outbreak.  Everybody is just a little on edge, but it is that “little” that can make all the difference.

Over the past week I’ve taken to (most of the time) applying the old carpenter adage, “Measure twice, cut one,” to intense community living, “Think twice, speak kindly.”  There is a reason that, after visiting the Franciscans I decided that diocesan life was the vocation for me.  I “people out” quickly as my housemates can attest.  

I’ve asked them to let me know if I’m getting snarky.  So far, so good!

I can’t stand fish aquariums.  (Stick with me here a second.)  I find them depressing not the least reason being that they do EVERYTHING in that water and that “everything” is then sucked through their gills over and over again.  Getting snarking in a contained place has much of the same effect.  It might feel good in the moment to snap at someone, but then that negativity has been released into your fishbowl to be recycled through the atmosphere over and over again.

So, my spiritual advice is this:  We have time.  Think twice.  Be creative.  Find the least negative way to bring something to someone’s attention.  Keep the bowl as clean as possible.