Choice – Page 22 – The Blessed Overcomer

Hate continues to rear its ugly head in America. We have have experienced four mass shootings. We have experienced more hateful tweets and comments from our elected leaders. It seems it’s gotten easier for people to choose hate over love.

It would be easy to get caught up in all the hate. All we have to do is turn on the tv, open up social media or just walk outside. Hate is all around us. Some of our political leaders have earned their PhD’s in the area of hateful rhetoric. How did we get here?

If you’re a conservative you’re told on a daily basis the liberals are to blame. How liberals are out to destroy America. If you’re a liberal, you’re told on a daily basis the conservatives are to blame. How conservatives want to take America back to the 1950’s. The talking points change daily, but the game has been the same for years; exploit fear and distrust. Make it Them Against Us. My prayer today is that we will make a Bigger Us and a Smaller Them.

We need to stop demonizing people who have different political views than us. We need to stop demonizing people who look different than us. We need to stop demonizing people who have a different faith than us. We need to stop demonizing people who were born in a different country than us. Instead we need to celebrate our differences, because that’s what has always made America great.

So we have a choice to make. We can keep pitting Them Against Us or we can all come to the Table of Love and have real and significant conversations. I believe we will find we have more in common than we realize.

As you know, I love to share take away points in my blog post. Here are some ways we can choose to Love More and Hate Less:

*We have a choice. We make the choice what we believe. We make the choice what we watch and listen to. We make the choice to be part of the problem or part of the solution.

*Replace Judgement with Grace. The world is constantly beating people down. Instead of being the Judge and Jury, make the choice to show some grace.

*Truly Listen. It is so easy to bombard people with your beliefs and opinions. Make the choice to take some time to listen to people who think, act, look and speak differently than you. That doesn’t mean you have to agree with them, but take the time to listen to them.

*Choose Love. Choosing love can be difficult at times. Let’s face it, some people are hard to love. I bet that hard to love person just came to mind. I did not say choosing love would be easy. Choosing love is a daily choice. But I believe it is worth the hard work.

“I have decided to stick with love…Hate is too great a burden to bear.” ~Martin Luther King, Jr.

As I scrolled through social media this morning, I was overwhelmed by the choices people make when posting on their pages. It is amazing what people choose to put on their pages. Let’s review some of the post.

The first post I came across was from my friend John. Every Sunday morning, John does a Facebook Live from his bicycle ride. John’s live videos are always positive, challenging and encouraging. I look forward to them every Sunday. My friend could easily spend that time complaining about everything going on in the world. No, my friend John is the type of person who chooses to look at the positives in life. Now that doesn’t mean John goes through life with rose-colored glasses on. No, my friend is well aware of the negative things going on in our world. But he makes the choice to emphasize the positives. The wonderful possibilities life presents. I so appreciate John’s outlook on life.

I wish more people would choose to look at life like my friend John. Sadly, that is not the case. As I left John’s Facebook Live this morning, I scrolled down my social media pages to see so much hate. Now, I know the majority of my social media friends personally and know they do not hate people. But if I did not know them personally and I was just scrolling through their social media pages, I would probably have a different view. Some of the post I read this morning were trying to be funny, but they came across as hateful and mean-spirited. What is concerning about these post, is that these same people will complain about how negative the world has become. Hello, you cannot complain about all the hate if you’re adding to it.

My hope is that this blog post does not come across as judgemental. My hope is that this will encourage everyone to think before they post. I am guilty of not doing that sometimes. I am not telling people to only post about rainbows and unicorns. I believe social media is a great place to share ideas and concerns. But I do believe we should be wise in how we convey our ideas and concerns. ~OC

Tag: Choice

Today I Choose

Love Over Hate