Charity-lens.

Charity.

I bet if I truly was Christ-like and had charity, I would never lose my temper, be impatient with the idiot driver in the cool purple intrepid, or blame my 75% graded assignment on the teacher, instead of on myself. Everyone would be much happier and much more compassionate.

So, apparently all I need is charity. But, with me being in the 'natural man' state, charity doesn't come easily or automatically.

C.S. Lewis said this:
When I come to my evening prayers and try to reckon up the sins of the day, nine times out of ten the most obvious one is some sin against charity: I have sulked or snapped or sneered or snubbed or stormed. And the excuse that immediatly springs to my mind is that the provocation was so sudden and unexpected: I was caught off guard... [yet] surely what a man does when he is taken off his guard is the best evidence for what sort of a man he is. Surely what pops out before the man has time to put on a disguise is the truth. If there are rats in the celler you are most likely to see them if you go in very suddenly. But the suddenness does not create the rats: it only prevents them from hiding. In the same way the suddenness of the provocation does not make me an ill-tempered man: it only shows me what an ill-tempered man I am. The rats are always there in the cellar but if you go in shouting and noisily they will have taken cover before you switch on the light. Apprently the rats of resentment and vindictiveness are always there in the cellar of my soul.

In this 'natural man' state, resentment and vindictiveness come much easier than charity. But what I'm realizing, is that all of those negative reactions are a choice. And so is charity.

Obviously, Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of charity. Perhaps if we also had the "charity lens" and could see everyone as Jesus, or as Heavenly Father, sees them, we wouldn't be so judgemental.

Here's what I used to think charity was: small acts of kindness. I thought that by smiling at strangers, or holding the door for a distressed mother with five kids in tote was being charitable. Unfortunatly, in my head I would think, "That mom would look great with a different hair cut. Or a straitener for that matter." My charity was only outwardly. If I really was able to see that mother as Heavenly Father does, I would maybe think, "That woman has sacrificed everything to do what's right and raise five beautiful children. Day in and day out she gets up early, goes to bed late, cleans her home, makes meals, and makes sure each child knows they are loved."

Cheesy? maybe. But maybe that's what charity really is. We all know how it feels to have felt the critical, negative, carping, nit-picking, fault-finding, and grousing attitude that comes easily to the natural man. It hurts. Anytime that happens to me, I also want to say, "If you only knew me better."

So how do I aquire more charity? I think that comes individually. But I can tell a big difference day to day when I'm consistanly praying for it.

Charity is the culminating gift of our spiritual seeking. "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."
(1st Corinthians 13:13)