Daily Bible Reflections

June 24, 2011

Solemnity of the Nativity of John the Baptist
24
CRITICISM AND PRAISE

Though I thought I had toiled in vain, and for nothing, uselessly, spent my strength, Yet my reward is with the Lord, my recompense is with my God. – Isaiah 49:4

I was catching up with reading three weeks’ worth of emails from readers of our publications. I received three consecutive emails reacting to a reflection I wrote for Didache that day.
One after another, the senders criticized my use of the word “dictator” for President Ferdinand Marcos. Honestly, I didn’t mean to offend anyone and had related the story of the Marcoses’ hasty departure from the Malacañang as a historical fact.
By the third email, I was already feeling down. But as I continued reading my emails, another string of messages came, telling me how another Didache reflection I had written had touched them. This time, I received thrice as many encouraging emails than those that had criticized my previous reflection.
I sat in church that morning thanking God for the criticisms and the praise. The former taught me to be more sensitive to the implications of the words I use. It also humbled me. As for the praise, I took it as God’s way of telling me to keep on with what I’m doing even if I can’t please everybody all the time. Rissa Singson-Kawpeng (justbreatherissa@gmail.com)

REFLECTION:
“It is not the critic who counts.... The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena... who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is no effort without error and shortcomings.” (Theodore Roosevelt)

Lord, help me to accept criticism humbly and praise You even more so.