A Person's Disposition

        When a neighbor asked us if we could recommend someone to help him with a landscaping project, we readily mentioned someone who helps us out from time to time.  This man, from Guatemala, is such a good, good man, honest and so hard-working.  It never dawned on us that there would be a disagreeable outcome.  But it seems that, once again, this neighbor was not pleased with Gaspar's work, as he too often is not with workmen.

        From a merely human standpoint, one would say that this individual has a disagreeable disposition that may well have come from a parent and that he can't help being the way he is.

        In thinking about this situation, I was helped by what Christian Science brings out about man.  And the command Christ Jesus gives us to love our neighbor.  First, from my religion, that man, all of us, are ideas of divine Love, created by God to express His nature, His disposition.  Second, that to truly love my neighbor, I have to view him or her in the right light, that is to say, as a right-thinking and acting expression of His heavenly Father who created him.

        Praying correctly about this neighbor freed me from pinning on him what most others around here do.  It isn't kind to him, who after all, probably doesn't want to go through life falling out with people, not finding anyone willing to work for him.  And seeing him as God's child, with all the lovely qualities of His maker, can't help but have a positive influence in his life.