Thoughtfulness… – Sunday, August 07, 1960
Last week we talked of thoughtfulness—and pleaded, as a season passes, for a pausing from the fevered pace, from the rush and the routine, for the quieting of the spirit, for the slowing of the pulse, for an appraisal of life’s purpose—and from Thomas Hood we cited a sentence which said: “Stand shadowless, like silence, listening.”1 There is another side of thoughtfulness that we would turn to today: thoughtfulness for people and for their problems.
We often wonder what others think of us, but often they don’t think of us at all. Often, they are so absorbed with their own thoughts, with their own problems, with the impressions they are making on others, that they are all but unaware of us, even as we are often unaware of them—except perhaps somewhat superficially. But with thoughtfulness we learn to know that every person has his problems, that no one can always be at his best, that everyone has good clays and bad, and times of encouragement and times of downright despondency. With thoughtfulness we learn that what seemed to be a slight may not have been intended so at all—and we learn not to be supersensitive, not to imagine offenses that aren’t intended. With thoughtfulness we learn to deal gently with the lives and the hurts and the hearts of others, and to hold the tongue and the temper.
We learn to see the problem of those who are younger, who need understanding and kindness and encouragement—and also of those who are older, who, for a different reason, need understanding and kindness and encouragement. With thoughtfulness we learn to live with problems that seem all but insolvable. We learn to hold on, to wait for a mood to change, for people to modify, for the difficult day to pass. We learn something of the enduring values. We learn patience and prayerfulness—and understanding—and faith for the present hour—and faith for the future.2
1Thomas Hood, Ode, Autumn
2Louise Knight Wheatley, from Teach Me to Love
“The Spoken Word,” heard over Radio Station KSL and the CBS Radio Network, from the Tabernacle, Temple Square, Salt Lake City, Sunday, August 7, 1960, 11:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon, Eastern Time. Copyright 1960.
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August 07, 1960
Broadcast Number 1,616