Good that is Evil Spoken Of

Our good is often evil spoken of because or our thoughtlessness.  The woman who looked askance at a stranger who had been shown into her pew did not really mean to hurt the stranger’s feelings, to send her away from church that day with the inward resolution never again to enter its doors, but such was the effect of her lack of thought.  Our good is often evil spoken of because of the unnecessary harshness of our manner.  It is an oft repeated excuse of offenders of this kind, “I was born with an unfortunate disposition; I am brusque, and have no fineness of touch; it is hereditary.”  This is an attempt to dodge responsibility, to transfer the censure to our ancestors—who cannot defend themselves.  Harshness of manner may be temperamental, but it is hardly constitutional.  It is an ungracious and harmful habit, and it can be cured.  Those who ride roughshod over other people’s sensitive feelings need to take a new lesson in the school of the compassionate Christ.

Sometimes our good is evil spoken of because of our lack of charity—not the charity, that feeds and clothes the poor, but the charity that Paul speaks of, the love that “suffereth long and is kind.”  It was a saying of a distinguished jurist, “We can not be like God in justice, power, wisdom or holiness, but we can be like Him in being merciful.”