Good Morning George, How Are You?

I know I haven't written here in awhile.  It's hard keeping up with life.  I had so much more time when I worked than I do now that I stay home.  As many of you know (who bother to read my stuff), this is my personal blog.  Or, should I say, the one where I avoid politics.  I realize most people truly do not want to read every detail of my life, so I'm just not one of those people who blogs every day.

I also didn't want to spend months blogging about how hard it is when your oldest leaves home.  It's hard, but it's just one of the many things we have to deal with as parents.  Besides, I'm super proud of what she's doing.  She's serving her country.

My reason for writing this morning is simple.  I have something I want to say.

Look around you for a moment.  Life is not what it used to be.  I know, as a kid, my life was so much simpler, and not just because I was a kid.  I remember being a kid, and during the summer, my best friend and I would spend all day in the pool.  I played outside when it was nice.  If it was cold I played inside.  I used to pretend to be a teacher.  I taught my pound puppies and care bears.  I didn't watch a lot of TV, but I did watch Scooby Doo every day.  TV shows still had good messages, life lessons we could learn.  Does anyone remember Growing Pains and the Cosby Show?  We didn't have cell phones and ipods and xboxes. We didn't have internet, and so we didn't have facebook and tumblr and twitter.  When school was over, you got to leave those problems at the door.  Home was a sanctuary away from all that.  The most you got was a phone call to your friends, and even then, it wasn't like it is now.  No one was randomly texting you horrid stuff to make you feel bad.  No one would call your house and say the things so easily passed off via text or the internet these days.  Life is not so simple anymore.

I've been on facebook since Katt was 14.  Four very long years.  I've watched social networking take on the image of an elementary school playground, or a middle school hallway.  We say things we would never say to someone's face, or even on a phone call.  Why? Because it's easier.  It's so much easier to hurt when you sit behind a computer screen and attack.  I have even done that myself a few times, and I'm not proud of it.

My favorite defense is, "But I didn't use any names".  Okay?  Unless you think everyone is an unintelligent mutant, people who know you, know exactly who you are talking about.  Just because you are "kind" enough to leave out a name, doesn't mean it was okay to say the things you did.  Especially not when your statements are so pointed they elicit responses that are no better than your original post.

Growing up we used to say to the mean kids "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but names can never hurt me".  Whoever came up with that phrase is a full blown idiot.  Broken bones heal, but words said in anger, words that are mean, they stay for a long time.  You can't put a bandaid on them, or reset them, and you can't ever really take them back.  We are all only human after all.  As much as we try to do the right thing, especially in God's eyes, we don't forget so easily.  Only God is good at that east/west thing.  Hurtful words stick around.  In today's world, those hurtful things are often typed on a keyboard, appear on a screen, and we walk away feeling our anger and vitriol were well justified.  We rarely think of the damage we may have done.

And then the child like war starts.  The person who made the first comment gets a response and now their feelings are hurt too.  Now they also feel wronged, and in truth they are.  Because two wrongs don't ever make a right.  Rarely do we stop and realize that if we had stopped our fingers from pushing enter, or even typing the words to begin with, none of this would have happened.  

Maybe you are terribly  hurt by some action that had been taken by another person.  That happens, and everyone knows how it feels.  But why blow up a friendship, a family relationship, or even your marriage, by posting some hurtful comment on your favorite social networking site?  If you care enough to be hurt by someone's actions, then you should care enough to want to find a way to repair the relationship, not make it worse.

Lately, God has been tugging at my heart that I need to be reminded of what he says about situations like these.  As we approach the "Love" day, I am reminded of what God says about love, and how true love treats itself and others.

 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 Love never fails

I Corinthians 13:4-8

If we love enough to get angered by the actions of those we love, then we love enough to realize that there's a better way to resolve our differences than hurtful words.  Lord, may I be the first person to take my own advice.