Don't Complain!

Recently a friend and I had a conversation amid a busier than average day.  As I looked back on the week I realized that in many ways it had been less than perfect, and in some ways things didn't look like they were going to get better any time soon.  When my friend asked how things were going I replied, "I prefer not to complain."

"Thats good," she told me, "because complaint is nothing more than practice for the afterlife."  I had to think about it for a moment, after all there will be nothing to complain about in heaven.

In a kind of an odd way, the topic of complaint is an appropriate place to start out the month of November--a time when we remember saints and saintly people.  Personally, I don't take the extremes when it comes to points of view.  I'm a well established moderate with a pinch of radical that goes both directions.  I think a lot of saintly people have had their shares of complaints, but where they differed from the everyday complainer was that when they lodged their complaints they brought a solution with it.

I'm being practical more than anything, but I sensed a great a deal of wisdom in my friend's admonition not to complain.  Often I don't like the way things are, but may God help me to offer solutions.  After all, isn't that the way the world gets changed for the better?  Isn't solution finding the way we move mountains? God grant us the faith to find a solution every time we have a complaint.

Comments

[Gabrielle]

I don't mean to complain, dd, :) but I don't understand what she meant. Could someone explain it to the sleep-deprived?

On another note (for when we are feeling more upbeat), a very young priest was at our parish a few weeks ago giving the homily, and he told us what some of his responses are when people ask him how he is:

"How are you?" - "My cup runneth over."
"How are you?" - "I'm blessed."
"How are you?" - "I'm so blessed it's embarrassing."

I keep forgetting to use these at the office. :)

[JustMe]

Good points and amen, DDW, and lol, Gab. I had a ferociously Protestant young friend who always surprised me with his greetings/responses similar to the above, and with his parting wishes, "May God bless your socks off!" Ah, to be young..

New England natives have a single response when asked how we are (if things are very bad): "I'm ok, howr you?" and one response if things are terrific: "Can't complain."

Gab, I don't know what she meant either, and that's certainly not from being sleep deprived nor short on chocolate. I think, however, it was meant as, the more we accept sufferings or injustice here without putting it onto anyone else via complaints, the holier we become.

[Gabrielle]

Thanks, JustMe. :)

[Deacon DW]

Well, Gabrielle, I think what she was getting at was that if there's no complaints in heaven, then the afterlife that complainers are preparing for must be something other than heaven.

[Gabrielle]

Merci beaucoup, dd.