Wednesday, July 30, 2008

is patience a virtue?

i would consider myself a patient person, but it can be alot of hard work. patience can really wear a person out.
when one is patient, one isnt always the most assertive.
patience is also humbling.
or maybe im being forced to be more patient than i actually am, and that is what is wearing me out.
some friends require lots of patience, which is why they befriend me, but sometimes i dont have the strength to be patient, sometimes i need to be around less needy people.
when people say that h-shem wouldnt give anyone any trial unless he thought they could handle it really causes me to pause. so does this mean that this particular person is seemingly without mazel because they deserve it? because they can handle it?
i know that whatever adversity doesnt kill someone makes one stronger, but how much can one person take?
how much patience does life require?

2 comments:

Mikeinmidwood said...

If you force yourself to be patient it wont work and youll end up blowing up in someones face. it has to come naturally and you have to be into it in a caring way thats how I see it.

David Staum said...

when people say that h-shem wouldnt give anyone any trial unless he thought they could handle it really causes me to pause

I think that's just rationalization. The world has a certain amount of randomness built into it. That's the way the unverse was created. If someone gets cancer it's because their body malfunctioned, not because Hashem is testing them. what about people who don't handle well the bad things that happen to them? Does that mean that Hashem is punishing them? Certainly not. Bad things happen - that's simply part of life.

However, the way we react to bad things that happen speaks to the kind of person we are and faith can be a source of comfort, strength, and perspective.