18 Ishmael’s descendants occupied the region from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt in the direction of Asshur. There they lived in open hostility toward all their relatives.
-Genesis 25: 18
The last sentence above struck me. Do I live in open hostility toward my relatives and or friends? What relationships are broken? Who have I stopped talking to? Who am I angry with? Who have I stopped inviting over? Who do I need to forgive for something they did to me that perhaps they forgot or do not even know that they did?
Admittedly, there will be times when we just cannot get along. Our personalities simply clash. At the very least, I need to remind myself to respect that person. I need to forgive that person. Just as God is in me, God is also in them. I need to honor that.
The perfect term for this is namaste, a Hindu greeting.
“I honor the place in you where Spirit lives.
I honor the place in you which is
of Love, of Truth, of Light, of Peace.
When you are in that place in you,
and I am in that place in me,
then we are One.”
So when I find myself becoming hostile to friends or relatives, I will try to remind myself of namaste.
