Longsuffering

This word is not just weird, it also sounds so pitiful. The synonyms listed include forbearing, patient, tolerant, selfless, forgiving, etc., which show that this long word might as well be a deaf-blind-mute inhabitant of Wicked City or it could be mistaken for a cowardly cretin void of the brains to engage people head-on.

By human nature this is not an inherent value nor is it a built-in trait in the DNA of the Homo sapiens. Self-preservation and survival – an instinctive behavior of mammals, does not have longsuffering in its vocabulary and in this unforgiving world this attribute could well be considered a threatened and endangered trait.

So why the discussion about it? I will confess that unconsciously I have been coming to understand the mystery of this 13-letter word or should I say that this thing could be surreptitiously planting its roots in me.

Definitely I’m not the guy portrayed in the opening paragraph and my personality type absolutely doesn’t have longsuffering as one of the given attributes. My lengthy unwritten record of angrily snapping at people will tell you that this couldn’t be me now. I can't blame the aging process either, because there is a tendency for the ‘elderly’ to be less patient and more demanding.

With all the humanistic possibilities eliminated I can only turn to the Bible for answers to this phenomenon and Galatians 5:22 readily gives this explanation: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance… There you are – the 4^th fruit in the basket of godly values.

This explains it – 8 years ago in the month of August, this guy was blessed to be "born again" in the Holy Spirit and obviously its fruit is now growing in him.

Longsuffering? You may look down on one who has this trait, but there's no doubt that you would want to be around him on any manic day (whilst the boss is hurling verbal abuse:-)).