Daily Meditation for March 24, 2025

Here’s a kinder way to ask why someone did something. Mary had put raisins in a plastic container in the cupboard. The next day she noticed that they were in a glass jar with a cover. Thinking Lou had put them in the jar, she felt bad that someone had, by doing that, “said” that Mary should have known they should be in a jar with a cover. But instead of criticizing Lou, Mary went to her and said, “Can you help me understand why you put the raisins in a jar with a cover?” To which Lou simply said, “They will get hard if they are in a plastic container.” Neither of us was upset. Mary learned that day that it is not what you say but how you say it. If Mary had accused Lou, Lou would have been upset, and Mary would have felt even worse than she did in the beginning.

By Ruth Anne Schneider, OSB