"𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐘𝐨𝐮" - Day 5: ... 𝐔𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐈𝐭 𝐆𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡

We've set some pretty lofty goals this week. It's easy to sit in our solitude and philosophize about how we 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 be. But what about when someone gets on national TV and makes claims we know aren't true? What about when crimes go unpunished? You hear fear-mongering and hate-mongering and eventually you feel like you're going to explode.

But then it comes to your doorstep. Just when you're already on the verge of explosion, maybe it comes in the form of a family member ranting on, completely missing the heart of the matter. Maybe your child learns something at school that horrifies you could be taught to children. Maybe your best friend says "Blue Lives Matter" when you say "Black Lives Matter" and a third says "All Lives Matter" and neither of you are satisfied that the others have heard a word you've said.

What do you do during the times when your blood boils?

𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵?

We've talked before about Ann Voskamp's book 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘎𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴. In it, she describes a moment when she was definitely in the midst of losing it on her children, who'd been breaking things and leaving a tornado trail of debris all day. Through the past few weeks, she'd been training herself so well on finding gratitude that she found it even in the moment of anger. And she realized that feeling anger in that moment was 𝘯𝘰𝘵 being grateful for that moment. In fact, she was clenching her first and shoving the moment back at God, telling Him she didn't want it.

So her suggestion, when unbridled emotions make it hard for us to reflect God, is gratitude. 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞. 𝐇𝐢𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐨𝐝.

Can you do it? Can you, without patronization or sarcasm, but full of humility and grace, can you thank God in the face of obscenity and hit your knees to respond humbly to your neighbor?

Can you offer a safe space for tongue-lashings to lose their muster? Can you open your arms wide and say, "I disagree but I love you and I want to understand more. Come, sit, tell me why you feel that way. Afterwards, may I share my perspective?"

What other suggestions does the Son-Beam community have? I look forward to hearing them, so please do tell! We need all the tools in our pack that we can carry!

God Bless your day, Son-Beam!

Love,
Laurie