"๐๐ก๐๐ญ'๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ง ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฎ" - Day 5: ... ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก
We've set some pretty lofty goals this week. It's easy to sit in our solitude and philosophize about how we ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ 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?
๐๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ต๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ต?
We've talked before about Ann Voskamp's book ๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ช๐ง๐ต๐ด. 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 ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต 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. ๐๐ฅ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ, ๐ ๐ซ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐. ๐๐ข๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐ค๐ง๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ค ๐ฎ๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ฉ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐๐ข๐๐ญ๐, ๐ฒ๐๐ฌ, ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฆ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ฌ ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐จ๐.
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
