Good Friday to you!

I was at a meeting a few years ago where someone was complaining in detail at length. Eyes were rolling and sighs were as subtle as the hiss of city bus brakes. The sound of chairs shifting threatened imminent walkouts. Eventually from the back of the room, an Irish voice: "Will ya get aff the fekkin' cross, we need the wood !"

Good advice on this Good Friday. No more suffering fools gladly, or injustice against those too weak to stand up for themselves, no more stifled pain. These days I am, by necessity, a peace lover. But that doesn't mean I'm a wimp or that I will always say things nicely. Sometimes this love business gets a bad rap because gentleness is mistaken for weakness and a request or real need is dismissed by others who only pay attention when the noise is loud, or colorful, or witty and funny or really angry.

I have the energy of a crumb right now, so I am settling for direct no frills communication. No more wrapping up my anger or frustration with a pretty bow to please others. I am not responsible for how you react to my anger. Your response to anger is your own business and at some point in the business of being a grown up you learn how to listen to another's pain without taking personal offense. Let's face it, I am not a threat with knives at the ready and a sharp tongue is sometimes the only way to cut through the clogged ears of those who are wrapped up in their own worlds so tightly they are not capable of serving others as true listeners.

My true friends support my moments of anger and invite me to share about the pain behind it instead of staying stuck in their own reaction and blaming me for it. I have room in my life for more true friends. One such dear friend just called to remind me that no matter what things look like, it is always a blessing and that every experience is here to enrich us in some way. We create our experience by our thoughts words and deeds and have free choice over it all. I trust this friend and her words of wisdom and will hold her loving reminder in my heart.

Today is Friday and it is good.