I was chatting on the phone with a church friend who held an opposing political view on a topic I felt strongly about. I thought maybe I could help my friend understand the need to think differently about it. After I made my comments, she didn’t say anything right away. But then she shared a spiritual way of looking at the issue, putting it more in God’s hands.

After our conversation, which ended on our usual cheery note, I was still kind of thinking about my friend, “You just don’t get it!” I felt frustrated and puzzled by someone accepting views that seemed less than morally right to me. I felt that the issues we had been discussing needed to be addressed more practically. But then I prayed, and as I did so, I could see that human will was acting as a roadblock to my thinking and that I needed to confront my feelings and frustration.

I’d been trying to correct someone else, and had felt justified in doing so.