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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Right Revd Mary Stallard, Bishop of Llandaff.

Good morning, with the busyness of my life, I often find myself rushing to complete mundane tasks like food-shopping: my haste doesn鈥檛 always make me easy to encounter. People talk about road-rage - well, I鈥檝e discovered in myself a capacity for supermarket rage!
When the automated check-out isn鈥檛 working properly, or I鈥檝e needed assistance, I鈥檝e sometimes felt exasperated that staff wearing badges saying 鈥渉appy to help鈥�, have been too busy with other tasks or appeared to be engrossed in conversations with their colleagues. When this happens, I find myself feeling impatient.
In calmer moments I have to admit that there鈥檝e been plenty of occasions when shop staff have gone out of their way to help me, to find things or to reach stuff from the highest shelves.
I find it interesting that the urge to complain seems much more powerful than the desire to affirm kindness. I鈥檇 readily go online to report poor service, but I rarely get around to acknowledging and recognising those who go 鈥渁bove and beyond鈥� to help.
As a Christian leader I also wear badges announcing that I should be happy to help others: My clergy collar indicates that I鈥檓 supposed to be kind, gentle and willing to help others. Similarly the cross, traced in holy-water on every baptised person鈥檚 forehead says the same thing.
Perhaps key to living in this way, is seeking to slow down, and instead of being consumed by doing many tasks to seek to do fewer things well.
God of grace, thank you that you are endlessly patient. Help us to notice even the small ways in which we might bring help to others, that we may live more carefully as part of your work of bringing hope and reconciliation for all creation. Amen.