Gospel living: the fruit of the Spirit

Holding my position
I’m Albanian. After searching long and hard, I found a job as a hospital nurse in Macedonia. One day, trying to stay true to my religious principles, I refused to take part in an abortion procedure.
My colleagues were quite surprised, since in doing so I risked being fired. Despite knowing that our family, which depends on my salary, would have hurt because of this, I held my position.
After a few days, the head of the hospital privately declared his admiration for what I did. He too wanted to challenge the practice of abortion, but dared not risk his position.
S. E. – Macedonia

Raising chickens
We wanted to start a business to meet the needs of the poor. Putting together some of our resources, we started to raise chickens for their eggs.
Our first employee was a 20 year old who I later discovered was dishonest. One time, in fact, he disappeared with a large number of eggs. He had been the only one absent that day.
Each time I decided to fire him, however, I stopped myself. “Firing him is easy,” I told myself. “Wouldn’t be better to help him?” I asked God’s help, and I tried to put trust in that young person.
A few months ago, many of the chickens were dying, and the veterinarian couldn’t understand why. That young man, observing them, noticed it was because the nests were placed wrong: the chickens who went to lay were not protected from the others’ pecking. We changed things, and there haven’t been problems since.
P. L. – Cameroon

Night shift
A colleague of mine covers the night shift at the digital center of a bank where I work. In the latest of many setbacks, he telephoned me in a panic and asked me to run over to help. Even if it took a lot to leave home and my family, I decided to go and give him a hand.
Before anything I tried to take in and absorb his anger, and little by little he calmed down. Together we tried to gather all the data that had gone missing.
At that point my job was done, but I thought of Jesus’ words, “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” I proposed that he go home for the night, telling him that I’d cover the rest of the shift. When he responded that he preferred to stay, I stayed with him until midnight.
Beyond my tiredness, I also felt a great joy.
F. S. – Switzerland

Communication breakdown
After years of marriage, my wife and I got to the point of not being able to communicate. Anything we tried to say to each other in order to clarify how we felt, or why we did things, seemed to pour gas on the fire, to the point that we threw in each other’s face that we had really never shared anything.
Our life was filled with days of hell. So much so that our children, even if they had already left home, noticed this intense awkwardness as well.
One day, when I was feeling particularly overwhelmed inside, I asked God for help. A short while later, as I was looking through a magazine on the tram, an article caught my attention about the importance of trusting each other.
That was exactly what I needed! I understood that, instead of analyzing actions and words, I needed to restore faith in my wife, showing that I believed in her.
I tried this, and my change in attitude bore fruit. After days of silence, my wife and I have begun a new dialogue.
F. T. – Hungary