Haters

Why all the violence? We are a violent people, it is our very sinful nature. We live in darkness and disorder, jealousy and confusion. We love a tragedy. We eat that stuff up, just as long as the tragedy has happened to someone else. That is the very reason the news at night time brings nothing but the negativity of the day. It is far more interesting and attracts viewers to watch the entire show, waiting for that moment they identify what happened to that little kid or that liquor store clerk.

We like reality TV because it simulates real life conflict as if we just cannot get enough of that in our own lives.

Here are some observations:

The internet:
People use cyberspeak like they use liquid courage. It is easier to break up with a person in email. We don’t even have to see their faces or the damage we have just done. Same principle apply to the things we say to each other over wires. I cannot see your sly grin to tell me you're are being sarcastic when you are insulting me. I can’t tell if your joking, so I will assume the worst. No, I never have to see you face to face if I don’t want to, but does that give me permission to say murderous things and walk away as if it hurts less to be cut by your computer than your blade. A cut is a cut.

Work:
People suck at work sometimes, because they don’t want to be there. When I don’t want to be somewhere, but have to go, it puts me in a foul way. I get annoyed and frustrated, so if I have to put up with showing up and working, I certainly am not going to put up with you stepping on me or taking the last candy out of the bacteria infested community dish. Go ahead, throw away my lunch I left in the fridge for a couple days. You can rip down the flier I put on the bulletin board for my car sale too. It doesn’t matter what a person wants to do to you, Christ is clear about our behavior in return.

Traffic:
Keep your fingers in your holsters. That finger sends a message telling that person to do a very bad thing. It isn’t even related to traffic, usually. Driving up beside a slow driver and staring at them with stink eye blazing will not make them realize their terrible mistake of driving too slow. They probably will not even notice you looking because they were on their phone.

At restaurants:
Sometimes we act like we are royalty. We sit there lounging and since we are paying for our meals, we act as if we entitled to the best possible service. Good service is great, but if we don’t get it, how do we react? Less tip? A severe tongue lashing? The people who serve us are not rich. They are normal people who need their jobs. We should give them a break.

At home:
A terrible trait about human beings is when we give the worst of ourselves to the people we are supposed to love the most. The people who see us as their heroes.

I write these observations because they are what I have observed in many ways in my own life and hate them. They are natural. Hate flows off the tongue and through the fingertips like we were born to do them. We were not. We were born to love each other and radiate Christ to the world. We don’t do that very well when we hate on each other. We can’t show Christ to a waitress on a Sunday morning or afternoon when we leave her a crappy tip or a cheesy, useless tract. We hurt our testimonies when we sport a Calvin peeing on the Darwin fish and a flaming middle finger. Our kids don’t learn grace and meekness on the mornings we didn’t get enough sleep and they got ready for school really slowly and we blow up, wrecking their day right along with yours.

It takes practice to not be a hater.














Sing.
Migrate.