The Truth of Tolerance

“Be patient with everyone.”

1 Thessalonians 5:14

“Gary, I kind of locked the keys in the car.”

I put down the phone, ready to drive over and bail Lisa out, but when I went to retrieve another set of keys, I noticed the empty hooks where we keep Lisa’s car keys. Apparently, Lisa had lost the last set. I had to go through her coats, her pants, her purse, her shoulder bags—anything I could think of—to find a key so I could get her home.

Lisa is a lastborn, and she does lastborn things. She loses stuff. She “forgets” her purse or leaves her wallet at the store. Just the other day she told me, “You know, I haven’t seen my Starbucks credit card in three months, but nobody’s used it, so I figure it must be lost at home.”

She saw the look of horror on my face.

“No big deal,” she said. “It’ll turn up.”

She saw my look of doubt.

“Someday.”