Life is short. It’s too short to be worried about what people think. Yet I find myself a bit annoyed anyway at the irony of things sometimes. I spent the last four years patiently and quietly enduring the rants and savage posts of people on various social media platforms. They went on and on about how much they hated this and that about this particular person or particular political party. They posted videos about several subjects, rarely fact-checked, in efforts to expose those they were trying to discredit. I ignored it to the best of my ability. After all, everyone has the right to say and do whatever they want and I have the right to continue scrolling. They were warmly welcomed by me into my home, invited to my parties, treated kindly by me and my family. I still considered them my friends.
But something I don’t do on social media is share my opinions openly about politics or other hot point issues. And the reason I choose not to do this is because it most likely isn’t going to change your mind, and it’s usually just an outlet for me to vent or an invitation for others to argue. I go back to this every time- is it helpful? Is it necessary? Is it kind? Is it thoughtful? Is it for the Kingdom? Is it serving anyone at all except for me to say it? I truly believe we as people have more important things to learn about one another than who we support or don’t support in politics. But that’s just me.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. Philippians 4:8
I guess what has disappointed me the most is the fact that when I finally have shared my thoughts, feelings, and opinions out in the open by way of this blog or through word of mouth, I’m not received as warmly as I received them. I’m not accepted. Suddenly my blog is not worth reading. I’m not as sweet and kind. People will only love you as long as they THINK you agree with them. But what they didn’t understand was that I was simply agreeing to disagree and accepting our differences. They were assuming my silence was agreement. As my wise mentor pointed out, “they weren’t your friends. They were your critics”.
As my oldest daughter says in her silly way, “oh, how the turns have tabled!” And yes, they sure have. I will no longer be silent about who I am. If this pandemic has taught me anything, if my parents have taught me anything, it has been to remain true to myself. If I don’t care for the job our president is doing, it is okay for me to say so! If I don’t like the quackery videos people are sending me, they will be getting something I believe in in return! Just as I have not been rude or withheld friendship from them, I expected the same in return. I am surprised and saddened at what I’ve seen.
People are going after people and getting riled up over all the wrong things. These are not the people I once knew, that’s all I can say. I pray and hope God breathes life back into all of our hearts and souls and gives us all the grace we desperately need. None of this is worth losing the love of people over. Not a politician. Not a virus debate. Not an election. Nothing.
God save us all.
