Skip to main content

Full of Grace....or something else?


Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. (Colossians 4:6)          
            I'm writing this with the plan to post it on a day when my conversation may not be full of anything like grace. It's partly a response to our political season, and partly a response to the vocally prevalent forces in our society. I started noticing the force I'm talking about when I was in high school. It wasn't new then, but since that time, I think it's become more entrenched in our society. One of my coworkers and I had been having a verbal slam fest, "all in fun." Later, I found myself wondering why it was that I couldn't think of any way to be funny that built someone up. 
          I noticed it on TV, too. Sit coms all seemed to involve putting someone down, putting someone "in their place," showing someone up, showing how stupid, backward, bad someone was. In other words, "funny" meant ridicule and abuse. In a political season, or among activists, "Funny" and "amusing" tends to mean agenda-driven propaganda.
          If our conversation is always full of grace, there is no room in it for anything else, ever. There is especially no room in which to amuse ourselves at the expense of another, even our enemies.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
In the sky:
New Moon
Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower (big one)
Birthday of
Sigmund Freud
Robert Edwin Perry

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. (Gal 6:10)   “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.   By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)           Joshua grinned when he saw Rex standing by the door, studying something on the ground. "Hey, man! Are we ready to do this thing?"          Rex looked up. "Josh, I can't do it. We're still best buds, but I can't stand your fiancée."           I've met "Rex" many times. I've been Rex. Joshua (Jesus) loves the Church. He's not a fool. He knows the Church is far from perfect, but she is His chosen bride. The Rexes of this world, who think themselves His friend, turn away from her. "You don't need the Church to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ssssssubmmissssssionnn

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ . (Ephesians 5:21)             "Ssssssubmmisssssssionnn." Can't you just hear the serpent hissing this most horrible of words? If you listen to the serpent or the world, submission means groveling, allowing yourself to be abused, denying yourself your own humanity. Nothing could be worse than submission, could it?             Submission has never been a problem for me, as long as things are going the way I want them to. The rest of the time? Well, let's just say that while I don't know how to fight physically, I don't know how to not fight mentally. One of the fights I've been having with myself for years is about submission.             My first breakthrough took place on a trip to a bookstore. As I walked into the store, my thoughts were very clear. 1) I was goi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shark Fins, Triple Dog Dares, Heroes, Villains and Sidekicks

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)            There's a scene in Jaws in which someone sees a shark fin and starts a panic. As   all the swimmers scramble to shore, boats surround the fin, which falls over to reveal two kids. With several guns pointed at them, one of the kids points at the other. The message is clear: it was his idea. In Christmas Story, there's a scene in which one kid "triple dog dares" another to do something stupid. Since it's a triple dog dare, well, what choice does the boy have? There doesn't seem to be any end to the trouble that peer pressure can cause. ...
Post a Comment
Read more