Christian Living

The Blessed Omission

by Terry Barlow
07/14/25
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  Recently my presence and the major role I played for a volunteer organization in a recent ceremony was complete overlooked. There was no mention of it in an article that appeared in a publication soon afterward.  My first instinct was to ignore it in the full awareness that the ceremony was not about me anyway or the service I rendered.  But the more I thought about it and the more time that elapsed convinced me that ignoring the snub might not be the right course of action after all. I represented a body of people with a purpose much bigger than myself. A subtle sense of resentment was growing inside of me toward the author of the article, with whom I was acquainted but did not know very well.

  After further consideration and a Bible verse that came to mind, and prayer I, I decided to call the individual on the phone. He gave a plausible reason for the omission, but in the process we had a great conversation and actually got to know one another better. What I was left with was a feeling of having been enriched rather than that much less pleasant sense of resentment. Enrichment and appreciation had displaced resentment.  And as that was happening, as if that wasn't already enough, he became inspired to write an additional article giving due recognition! So the bottom line is that keeping one's mouth shut isn't always the best course of action. The challenge is to have the wisdom to know the difference, when silence is advisable and when it isn't.