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| INTERACT WITH LOVE In preparation for the onslaught of the Gulf War, when the menacing threat of a chemical and biological warfare...hung over the country of Israel like a dense and sinister fog, Israeli citizen's were instructed to create a "sealed" room in their homes to which they could retreat when the Scuds fell. Almost everyone in Israel understood the grave peril that had been plunged. They took both the threats and the worst-case scenario seriously, and in their "sealed" room most Israelis stockpiled abundant supplies of food, medicine, clothing, furniture, books, toys for the children, and additional essentials. Others, however, were more sanguine and consequently didn't equip their room quite as completely as they should have. The Ben Simone family belonged to this very small minority. Their sealed room lacked many basics, including furniture. When the first siren went off in Tel Aviv, indicating the beginning of the initial assault, the large family rushed into the sealed room in a state of dazed disbelief. Then only piece of furniture in the room was a lone armchair, and practically everyone headed for the floor. Two people remained standing: an elderly grandfather, and his young nine-months-pregnant granddaughter. They both looked at the single arm chair and then at each other. "Grandfather," the young woman urged, "please...sit down." "No, heaven forbid, my sweet, precious grandchild," the elderly man replied. "You sit down." "Not in a million years! I wouldn't think of it! Please you sit down." "I should sit down while my nine-months-pregnant granddaughter, almost in labor, stands? Never!" "Well, Grandfather, you might as well sit down, because I absolutely refuse to take your chair!" And so it went, for minutes, a veritable stalemate, both arguing stubbornly, both refusing to yield, the chair remaining empty, unoccupied. And wasn't it fortunate? Because as they argued, something hit their roof with a loud thud, and a large piece of an unexploded Scud burst through their ceiling and into the armchair where neither of them sat. When we interact with others with love, respect, and consideration, we are enfolded by a protective light. _______________________________________________ "Be of one mind, have compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous." (1 Peter 3:8) ******************************* |