Walking The Walk . . .

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. ~Matthew 7:12 It's such a simple rule--the "Golden Rule."  Just think of all the pain and anger and frustration and disappointment that could be avoided if we'd just follow that simple idea to treat other people the way we want to be treated.  But it's more than just that.  If you look at that first part, it says "so in everything." In everything?  What's that mean?   Well, it means we're not just talking about being nice to people.  We're talking about empathy.  It means putting yourself in the place of other people. It's not difficult for us to come up with a lot of reasons why we think we have the right to be rotten to somebody.  He was rotten to me first.  He has it coming.  What's good for the goose . . .  We can use all those reasons to "justify" treating somebody in a way we certainly wouldn't want to be

I'm a pretty busy person.  I work full time.  I pastor a church part-time.  I have a big yard I keep up.  A wife and two daughters.  A couple dogs.  And I write quite a bit (and not just sermons).  I have plenty to do.  I get asked every once in awhile how I manage that.  I used to pride myself in the ability to do numerous things all at once.  I was a skilled practitioner of multitasking.  I made my calls during drive time to and from work.  I could answer texts during staff meetings.  I'd keep right on working on a spreadsheet while I was on a group call.  And I'd jump from project to project during the day making progress on each project every single day.   And then one day, harried and exhausted, I realized that multitasking was a myth.  It didn't make me more productive, it made me less productive.  I'd miss important details in a meeting because I was texting during that part.  I'd forget something I was supposed to do from a call because I was driving at