A higher conversation

What do you do when somebody's rude to you - for no apparent reason?  I learned last week to go for a higher conversation. 

I had gone to Home Depot for a small can of paint.  You see, I had this bathroom waste basket with a lovely blending of most unusual colors -- pale blue, green, and yellow -- and had been thinking about putting some accents in the bathroom in these colors.  

Bold, new, not so pale, accents

Wastebasket in hand for matching colors, I asked the clerk whether a toilet seat could be painted.  He answered generically and negatively.  Feeling sure it could be done, I repeated my question.  He repeated his previous answer very loudly -- which was embarrassing because there were other customers and clerks nearby.  

This conversation wasn't going at all in a productive direction.  I knew God had a better plan for our relationship.  To find out how to turn this in a useful direction, I reached out to God.  I like to talk with Her often, and not only when things get dicey.  I've learned to trust that She always has a good solution.  

Finding a sense of God, good, being in charge, and standing across the counter from the clerk, I said very quietly, "I can hear you just fine without your raising your voice."

He paused, then replied trying to justify himself, but this time his reply was equally quiet. 

I said nothing, but I did pray to love this guy.  I loved his humility -- even if it wasn't evident.  I loved his desire to serve.  I loved his expertise, his skill, his progress in his career.  

About that time he finished some puttering he was doing at the counter, looked up, and with a completely different attitude, allowed that a toilet seat could be painted under certain conditions.  This led to his asking some good questions and then offering some helpful advice.  He was all helpfulness.

He mixed the colors in enamel, and we parted on a very cordial basis.

James (in the Bible's New Testament) says, "Who is a wise man... among you?  Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom."  There is always a good conversation, always a better conversation, when God remains at the forefront of thought.