The seeds of discord are many. Scattered into the wind they may travel long distances to find footing. And yet, often they do not have to travel far. It is the seed that falls errantly from the farmer’s hand that brings about dense growth and root structures that choke the breath out of otherwise life-giving harvest.
I am not sure how we entered into such a fray where public peeing contests hold so much interest. Pride and Ego are the steroids we so readily inject in this world. Getting pumped and aggressively posing with our might, sneering at those who even consider competing for position on the podium next to us.
I get it. I have drank the Kool-Aid, too. I have posted and proclaimed and spewn my beliefs as if all else were antithetical to what is good. What is right. And so I claim to be educated and yet I stand on my soap box challenging all others to debate when in reality it is a battle cry coming forth and there is no intellectual discourse to be had in a winner-take-all economy.
The guilt. The culpability. The first-degree intent. The gaslighting. And, to be honest, the hypocrisy that I can take ownership thereof is on the stage for all to see. I NEED to take responsibility for my errant ways and, with the compass of humanity, I NEED to correct course. I need to acknowledge the lighthouse and choose to not sail into the reef.
We can have beliefs. We can have passions. We can support causes. We can. I certainly do. However, it is too easy for me to lose sight of the message and for me to get lost in the messaging. Emotion does not equate intellect. Passion does not equate loyalty. Powerful speech does not equate truth. And so many times I have thought that it does.
So, when I stand in my prayer circle and raise hands and voice, far too often the message of love that is looking for inclusion becomes a battle cry stating you are not as good of a Christian since you have not joined “my” circle. And when I fly my American flag and raise my voice, I am losing the message One Nation Under God and instead I am casting aspersions to my brothers and sisters not flying a flag as somehow being less patriotic than me. I manage to become my own self-fulfilling prophecy. You are not as good as Me.
What I am getting at here is that the messaging can be harmful to the message. And more importantly, far too often the “message” that I feel is “so” important, really isn’t.
Robert Crone