Love is patient and kind…

1 Corinthians 13: 4(a)

Expressing our love in terms of patience and kindness is often challenging, especially in our family relationships, but some time ago I witnessed a parent who was the epitome of patience and kindness. A waiting room is hardly a private place, so I had no other option than to listen as a mother interceded on behalf of her son who is unable or unwilling to confront his very apparent mental illness that has resulted in his forced hospitalization on at least four occasions in the last couple of years.

I listened as she pleaded on behalf of her son.  From what I observed, she had every right to lose her temper regarding her son because he refused to even talk to the doctor. He refused to take medication. He simply wanted to leave. Now. 

It is likely that the son did not perceive his mother’s intervention as loving, but I can say that it was one of the saddest moments I’ve witnessed in more than thirty years of waiting rooms in the pharmaceutical industry.  I don’t know anything else about her, but I was impressed by the love of this particular woman for her very lost son. 

As I contrasted this woman’s actions with my own life, I’ve considered the times when I have been less patient and even less kind to the people I love most in this world. I like to think I have become more loving…more patient and kinder, with much less of a short fuse – most of the time.

In the portion of Scripture above, Paul’s first descriptions of love are positive. How positive would others be about their sense of our ability to love?