by Linette Stenberg
The other day I heard something on TV that got me thinking. The news commentator said that the reason many parents don’t want their children to be exposed to particular school lessons or books is that they would be made uncomfortable. Well…as I remember my childhood, being uncomfortable was an important life lesson. I never got away with much (having three siblings wasn’t always so good), and when called to task by my mother or father, it was usually quite uncomfortable. I learned to cope with discomfort by being truthful and behaving better. I also learned that discomfort with a situation or person might be a red flag that something isn’t quite right. And I need to figure out why.
As we travel on our journeys these life lessons guide us. When every kid in a sports program gets a trophy, we don’t learn that we aren’t always as proficient as others in a particular situation. When we speak unkind words to another, we are uncomfortable because we see the hurt we caused. The lessons learned are discipline, humility, kindness, compassion, the value of truth, respect…I could go on and on. Or I could simply say what Jesus taught us…LOVE ONE ANOTHER. I’ve learned as I journey on that these lessons continue throughout our living. We must be open to learning new ways of being the person we want to be.