Out of the heart the mouth speaks

I make a lot of decisions that other people would not make. Those people make decisions that a lot of other people would not make. And those people make a lot of decisions that other people would not make. I hope you see where I'm going with this.

When it comes down to it, we all have a lot of deciding to do. We can follow tradition. We can follow the opinion of others, like a friend or a person of power. We can follow a personal conviction that comes from our morals or faith. We can decide to do what is cultural because we don't know much about something and choose to just go with the flow. We can decide to what is countercultural because we don't know much about something and choose to just go against the flow. We can decide to do what is cultural or countercultural because we have thought it out and have a reason to do so.

There are also a lot of other reasons behind our decisions.

I could probably give you a mile long list of the things I've decided to do/believe, and I'm sure that I could find someone that disagreed with me about each and every one of them.

I see things everyday in the media that I don't agree with. I do believe in the way that I do things, or I wouldn't do them that way. That means I'm not just being all postmodern about this, and saying that everyone's way is the right way.

But I have a serious problem when people put others down or make negative blanket judgments about all people who have made a different decision than theirs.

It is hurtful and destructive. It can stem from many things, but in the end, it is saying that someone else is stupid and wrong for making the decision they have made. And, especially if they have carefully thought out reasons for making that decision, it is incredibly insulting.

Let's be honest, what good does it do? It rallies the people who already believe the way that you do, and it causes the other people to either leave your comment and ask forgiveness for wanting to strangle you or say something about it and get pounded by the rallied group of people who support you. That's not building one another up, that's tearing one another down.

And, frankly, I don't want to be a part of that. So I will walk away and ask forgiveness.

And I pray that I am not the one making those destructive comments. May we all be convicted of the hurtful things we say to others, so that maybe, one day, we'll actually live out love and compassion for others, including those who don't agree with us and have made decisions that we don't like.

(title credit to Matthew 12:34)