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Someone
once pointed out that the best
time to make friends is before you
need them.
Paul's passionate plea for
unity in today's Second Reading
(Eph 4:1-6) is a reminder of that
fact.
Paul, of course, doesn't
package his plea in such
self-serving terms.
However, in its own
street-wise fashion the remark is
true.
Unity is good, disunity is
not.
It's as simple as that.
Paul
uses language here that many
people, particularly men perhaps,
may find difficult to identi@ with
in terms of relating to others.
He pleads for 'humility',
gentleness',
'patience' and that awful thing
called 'love'.
In an age when, in the name
of so-called entertainment, we are
bombarded with images of just the
opposite of these - anger, hate,
violence and abuse - we might be
pardoned for wondering which is
the norm in life: humility or
arrogance, gentleness or
aggression, patience or frenzy,
love or hate.
A constant diet of grim
actors on TV, and on the big
screen, aping antisocial antics as
if life consisted of never-ending
rows ftielled by mindless jealousy
can result in a build-up of bile.
So,
whether we suffer from indigestion
or not is up to us.
Which do we want: to be
hurtful or helpful, coarse or
courteous, aggressive or friendly?
Those who feed on anger,
hate and violence are no strangers
to fear.
These take more out of us
than they give.
It's the caring, the
friendship and the love that makes
life pleasant and hilfilling.
Ask
any angry, jealous and friendless
role model you can find.
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