As a child I lived with constant criticism. I mean daily. "Stupid. Lazy. Useless. Good-for-nothing."
These barbs echoed in my mind when I slept. I didn't like being me as a child. The seeds sown in my life grew into thoughts of inferiority and unloveliness. If not for the sovereign protection of my Lord, I probably would still be wallowing in self-loathing. But God sent folks into my life (mostly through church, and Christian school-teachers) who planted seeds of affirmation that contradicted the criticisms.
I think about that each time I see a child in the hallways or in a pew at church. I think about that when I watch them walk down the street in front of my house, or down an aisle at Wal-Mart. I think about that when I have a waitress I could disparage or a clerk I could chastize. I even think about that when I get ready to hang up on a telemarketer. Has anyone said anything kind to them today? Will I? Will you?
When I was a youth leader, I use to give my youth 10 kernels of popcorn. I told them they could throw them away when they saw someone do something kind and told that person they saw it. I told them to make every effort to watch for times when goodness was visible. When we had a youth event, they were to give the kernel to the other person each time they wanted to encourage them for something. No words were necessary. They just handed each other kernels of corn. It was really wonderful to watch them encouraging each other and looking for the positive in one another.
Today I think about we bloggers. I wonder if we all took the time to consider ten positive things about a blog-host before we commented on their blog (or a fellow commenter in the stream), how our comment would appear in the stream. What would the tone be like? I wonder if we mentioned a few of those positive things to them in the stream if that would help us communicate better when we had differences? Is it possible to dwell on that which is pure? Is it possible to "do unto others as we would have them do to us"? Or do we think so little of ourselves that we invite barbs rather than blessings? selahV
"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." Proverbs 25:11
[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2009]
