This was another one of those statements that would come up regularly in class and I find that even though I am not teaching now, I feel like I still need to remind myself!
In the past, I would bend over backward to hear everyone, even when we did not see eye to eye. It has always been my practice to treat everyone with dignity. Dignity did not need to be earned, it was something that I felt should be afforded to everyone. I always received dignity back from those I offered it to. That is not the case anymore and it is heartbreaking. I have watched political discourse move from educated open-minded discussions to out and out mudslinging, rude name calling, overt lying, with fist pounding anger. I have watched the Christian religion hijacked by partisan politics. I have witnessed human decency deteriorate and my heart is breaking.
Although in the past I have “unfriended” fanatical 45 supporters, I have always tried to see both sides of the story. But no more…I am settling into my tribe, of like-minded people. Negative, ugly speakers, that mimic the rude self-serving behavior of bullying, I am immediately “unfriending”. I do not need to be exposed to their spiritual venom. It is damaging to me, it is damaging to this country.
What I always did was, be kind ….I will not stoop to the current level of human bashing, but I will not expose myself to it either. What I am doing different, is walking away, ignoring, unfriending, unfollowing the ugly speak and wrapping my spiritual heart around others that see and uphold fairness, kindness, honor, and respect. There is a very strange but unexpected and wonderful empowerment that I feel pouring over me…no longer doing what I have always done.
"Strip Me" Natasha Bedenfield
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