It was Malcolm Forbes who said:  You can judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing to them or for them.

This is a difficult quote for me because it reminds of how little character I have had at some critical  junctures of my life.  In some of these instances, my treatment of people has been anything but a reflection of the Golden Rule.

I have often said that Christianity is a journey.  It is elusive in nature because we never really reach our destination of becoming more like Jesus.

As we move along this path of life, we would do well to heed the words of St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon.

Where there is doubt, faith.

Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light.

And where there is sadness, joy.

O divine master grant that I may

Not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

To be understood as to understand;

To be loved as to love

For it is in giving that we receive-

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.

And it’s in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

The words of this old Saint will keep me thinking for several days.  I hope they will occupy your mind as well.