How do you treat people? In my many dealings with the public I often see humanity at its worst. It is not uncommon to witness rude, crude, and selfish behavior as people interact with one another. It is not uncommon to see people losing their temper when they do not get their way or when they are inconvenienced. Sadly, this behavior is not relegated to just the secular world. Even church folks can behave badly.
However, I have also witnessed humanity at its best. I have seen acts of kindness. I have seen people treating each other with respect and compassion. I often witness people sacrificing their conveniences for others. I have watched as people who were treated rudely responded with grace. I saw it this weekend at my church where volunteer parking lot attendants graciously bore the brunt of anger from an impatient parishioner. It was not difficult to spot who was acting like Christ!
I recently read the "10 Commandments of Human Relations." It was written by an anonymous author. Read each one and reflect on how you treat people.
- Speak to people. There is nothing as nice as a cheerful word of greeting.
- Smile at people. It takes seventy-two muscles to frown, only fourteen to smile.
- Call people by name. Music to anyone's ears is the sound of his/her own name.
- Be friendly and helpful.
- Be cordial. Speak and act as if everything you do is genuinely a pleasure, and if it isn't, learn to make it so.
- Be genuinely interested in people. You can like almost anybody if you try.
- Be generous with praise, cautious with criticism.
- Be considerate with the feelings of others. There are usually three sides to every controversy; yours, the other fellow's, and the the right one.
- Be alert to serve. What counts most in life is what we do for others.
- Add to this a good sense of humor, a huge dose of patience and a dash of humility.
