Truth Telling

Love, joy and peace three virtues, over-simplified, three fairly well-understood character traits desired by friends, rejected by very few who live in community with others. Patience, goodness, kindness Patience, I readily admit is my own Achilles’ heel. Goodness and kindness seem to overlap. And yet I have come to understand that they are world’s apart. Being kind, I might hesitate to mention your blatant shortcomings, those faults which would hurt your feelings and separate us. Being good, I am obligated to make you aware of wrongdoings that weaken your purpose and cause others to mistrust and ignore you. Goodness goes that extra mile. Friends can tell friends the truth even if it hurts in the hope of making a better friend. Faithfulness, gentleness, self-control the last of the nine qualities which folks consider in developing spiritual relationships. Gentleness coincides with kindness and goodness, for there is a way in which the truth can be told with the intent of a stronger friendship. Gentleness I relate to humility, and if I see you my friend headed for that lonely place of no return, I feel duty-bound to share with you any error I see that can be rectified. Through self-control, I can rest at night knowing that there are NO secrets between you and me that I would regret if you died tomorrow and I knew I had not told you the truth. July 14, 2013 Contest: International Friendship Day, August 7th 2022 Sponsor: Beata Agustin