Lashing back

I was just reading Ether 7.

Kib, I think, is an amazing man. His own son captures him, his nephew goes against him in a war, and yet there is no record of Kib "lashing back". What does it take to be a person like Kib? I read this little thought I had written in the footnotes by M. Catherine Thomas in her book Spiritual Lightening...

"We are not judged by what others do to us; we are judged by how we react to what they do to us".

I think that's a hard thing to take in. Lots of times people have done hurtful things to me, and I want to lash out-I really do. And sometimes--that happens.

And then I regret it.

And then I feel like I'm to blame.

I think this little quote is good counsel...not that I have to immediately forgive every single person that wrongs me right away...but that I just need to react differently.

Turn to God, instead--first.

I love how her thought continues...

"For how shall we ever learn Christlike love unless we have a chance to practice it in the face of opposition?"

And I think that is what Kib does in Ether 7. Extreme opposition for him...and yet, he doesn't ever 'lash back'. I wonder what his prayers were like at that time...