I was talking to my grandfather the other day.
Now, bear in mind my grandfather passed the 80-year-old mark. When I talk to him, I always remember the saying: “Intelligence is when you know that a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom is when you know not to use a tomato in a fruit salad.”
He is not the most intelligent human being that I have ever met. He went to school up to the fourth grade. He can read and write, but neither is his strong suit.
However, I must say, he is the wisest man you will ever meet. He is in perfect tune with nature, always kind and helpful but also always ready, even at this age, to protect his family and property.
So, as I was saying. I was talking to my grandfather the other day, and I asked him what was, in his opinion, an excellent skill to master.
The answer did not disappoint.
He said: “My son, learn to listen to people. Listen to what they have to say about the past, the present, and the future. When people talk, they tell you what they want to be. After you master the art of listening, you must develop the art of watching people. Always remember, when people talk, they present to you what they want to be or how they want to be seen. But what they do tells you exactly what they truly are and what they want from you.”
Grandpa, I asked, how can I know that I am getting better at mastering these two?
He said: “That’s simple. You know you master them when you won’t feel the need to judge anyone anymore. You’ll know you are a master when you won’t feel the need to attach yourself to someone. You know you master them when you invest your time and energy in someone and not get lost in someone else besides the One that created you.”
What do you mean by getting lost in the One that created me?
“Cristian, people go to church to praise a God from the past. A distant God who created the heaven and the earth and then retired. They do this their whole life, and they never get to meet Him. My son. God is not retired. God is not distant. I go to church to praise Him there also, but I am in Church everywhere I go. I praise Him when I eat, I praise Him when I go to sleep, I praise Him when I wake up in the morning, and I praise Him before I start working. I am always in the church because God is everywhere I go.”
Grandpa, what is the most important thing to know as a human being?
“The most important thing to know as a human being, and especially as a man, is that the only thing you truly have in this life is your word. All else comes and goes. You cannot keep your word if you don’t have a relationship with God. If you don’t have a relationship with God, you’ll always live in fear and inevitably lie and break your word and your promises. If you live in fear and tend not to be reliable and honest, you will attract the wrong friends and spouse, and then you will find out what hell looks like. So, my son, create a relationship with God. Talk to Him daily in your own words at first. Slowly, He will teach you how to pray, how to act, how to dress, and how to interact with other people and the world, and He will give you strength. That strength will help you always keep your word because you will realize there is nothing to win or lose in this life. You don’t take anything with you when you leave. You just have to be. If you will keep your word, you will be reliable. You will be a leader, and people will gravitate to you, trust you, follow you, and then you will see heaven on earth. Talk to God, keep your word, and be careful who you marry, and I promise you that life will be a blessing.”
John 1 1: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
With love, yours truly, Cristian.