[ampaterry]

There is an ancient legend that Abraham invited into his tent a man, who at mealtime gave no thanks to God for His mercy. Whereupon the patriarch drove him forth into the desert unfed and unsheltered.

But in the night God touched Abraham and awoke him, saying to him, "Where is the stranger?"

Abraham said, "When he did not fear you, nor thank you, I drove him forth."

God rebuked him, saying, "Who made you his judge: I have borne with him all these years. Could you not bear with him one night? Have you learned nothing from my mercy to you?”

How about you, Christian?
Do you look down your nose at the people at the next table in the restaurant who do not bow their heads over their food before they eat it? Do you pass judgment on those you see driving past the church on Sunday with a speed boat on a trailer, heading for the lake? Do you look at those who do not have their windows filled with Christmas decorations in December and decide that they simply are not worth bothering with, since they are obviously not Christians?
That is not for you to decide. Remember this old legend; God has been with you your entire life and has never given up on you, so you can find the strength to put up with people for the brief period that you are called upon to do, and treat them civilly. How can you claim the promise of God’s everlasting love if you cannot even do this for your fellow man?
Jesus told us:

Mark 12:29-31 (KJV);
And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

May God bless each one of us with the desire for civility, and patience with the idiots He asks us to deal with.