My Little Corner of the Universe

Yesterday, I listened to this beautiful talk that a C.O. and his wife sent us from California. It is entitled "Just Let it Go" and it was simply about not holding grudges, but just letting it go.

He gave an illustration about a bear walking along. He walks by a cabin and smells beans. He goes in and sees beans being cooked. So he goes to the red hot stove and makes a move for the beans. But he gets burned! Rowrrrr! So, in anger and fury, he grabs the pot with his paws and arms and holds on to it with all of his might, hugging the thing, while he's getting cinched! And he keeps on holding on to it while he's roaring and crying. The moral of this little story? JUST-LET-IT-GO. If we hold grudges, we are only hurting ourselves. Like that bear that just wouldn't let it go.

He gave a personal experience of this brother who he could not stand. (Obviously, this was his pre-C.O. days.) And he couldn't stand his laugh. He felt as though he was laughing at him. He couldn't stand him. But it turned out that one day, he was assigned to go out on service with him! "Did I like that?" he asked. "No I did not like that!" But something happened. The brother he didn't like was asked how he came into the truth. He turned to our narrator and told him that like him, he also had an unbelieving father and explained, as tears rolled down his face, how difficult it was to get into the truth and stay in it. And to be able to hide the pain and make him feel better was: laughter. Plus, he told the pre-C.O. that it was his example that helped him remain strong and in Jehovah's organization.

Then he talked about when he was in the 6th grade. He was sitting behind this red-headed girl and he complained to the teacher that she stunk! She was, of course, denying it. So he complained so much that the teacher moved him to another seat. "Sniff, sniff, sniff". "He stinks too!" So teacher moved him to a desk all by himself, so that he would be satisfied. He started to sniff again, until he realized that it was HIM who was stinking. So, in his defense of all this, he said, he went up to the girl and apologized to her, as well as to the other one he accused. He related this to how sometimes we may feel like the brothers or sisters don't like us at a certain book study or a certain congregation and we move around. But after moving a few times, we find may find out that it was US that was stinking.

He emphasized how we should follow the greatest example: Jehovah. If he took into account everything we ever committed against him in one week, we would be dead! If He is willing to forgive us for our sins, which are much more serious, we have to forgive our brothers and sisters.

Well, there was just so many interesting points and illustrations to help us see the wisdom in 'just letting it go', reminding us that we are all walking in the narrow road to life (Matthew 7.14). And on this road, it is not a question of whether we will elbow and bump into each other. The question is how we will deal with it.