How your whine and complaints become God’s Instruction.

Has anyone whined and complained before? Probably. I have had multiple periods of frustration and impatience where I felt I was stuck. I was so focused on what was missing in my life. It is a dark place when we are fixated on what could be or what I imagined would be a better life. Are these complaints familiar? “No one says hi to me” “I don’t get texts from people” “I want to get flowers from someone.” “Is anyone going to wish me a happy birthday?” “No one gives me a compliment at work.” I’m sure that I could go on…

We are told that the “grass is greener on the other side.” An idiom that describes how our envy can give something we lack an unmerited fondness. It is much easier to fantasize about a certain lifestyle while we currently do not live it. A simple example is the life of a celebrity. We may see the all of the riches and rewards, but we do not see the cost and struggle of obtaining the lifestyle.

How should the Average Catholic handle their whine and complaints? Jesus offers us a simple but profound path forward. As it says in the Bible, “Do to others as you would have them do to you.” The basis of the Golden Rule. The context of the passage involves loving your enemies and doing good to those who can offer you little if nothing at all. Often time, this rule is used to discourage harmful actions. We may wish to do less than Christian things to our enemies, but since we ourselves do not want to be treated poorly, then we ought not to treat our enemies poorly.

The point of this article is to exhort a more positive use of the Golden Rule. The whines and complaints that we have become instructions from God. We want to be treated a certain way. Therefore, we know how we ought to treat others. If you want someone to call you, then find someone to call. If you want someone to buy you a gift, then buy someone a gift. No one says “hi” to you, then say “hi” to people.

Of course, if we are whining and complaining, then we are in no mood to be charitable. But, my Average Catholics, that is precisely when we are configuring ourselves to Christ. What good is our Faith if it does not change us when we are in the most desperate need of change. How do we stand out from non-Christians if we act just like them? As Jesus tells us, “And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.” (Luke 6:33)

Let us take our whines and complaints as messages from God. We will take them and be the change in the world. We know what love is lacking in the world, because we ourselves feel its absence. Is God not speaking to us? Or are we just not doing what He wants us to do?