Humblers

Yesterday morning I was perched in our church lobby, as were several other people. Some were talking quietly in small groups and others were watching the sermon on the televisions scattered throughout the space. I often sit in the lobby rather than go into the giant sanctuary because I feel weirdly claustrophobic in such an enormous space filled with so many people. Occasionally there are people in the lobby who talk much louder than they should, and distract those around them from the service, which I find highly irritating.

Yesterday I noticed in one of the small groups of talkers there was a teenage boy who kept making this strange SSSSSSSSS sound as he talked, hissing like a snake. He kept getting louder and louder and it was definitely distracting. At first I thought it was part of a story he was telling, but he kept doing it. As I glanced over in aggravation it finally dawned on me that he is a stutterer, and he was valiantly trying to simply converse with a couple of adults.

Man, did I feel like a jerkwad. I can't believe I was irritated with this person who couldn't help how he sounded. It really humbled me when I started thinking about all the times another person has unwittingly irritated me and I had no idea what their story is or how hard their life may be.

It reminded me of a Facebook post my friend Greta shared the other day. I LOVE the message behind this, and I think the world would be a better place if we all practiced this philosophy: