After the comments on my last post, I want to say for the record that what was said to me was not unkind or demeaning in any way - it really made me think. People who know me understand what I say, the words I use and how I say them, but others may not. It is for the sake of getting to know those people better that I want to be more cautious. Two and a half years of having predominately online friends has been rough. There is a lot that can be shared here, and I value these friendships immensely - but I can never sacrifice the opportunity of having real life relationships by needing to recklessly say whatever comes to my mind without thought of how it may effect or be perceived by others - especially those that it specifically involves. I didn't say anything wrong, but I was misunderstood. There was a conflicted understanding in terminology. The only option is to bridge the gap between what I said and someone's understanding of it - which I can only do from my end. If I am standing on one side of an expanse, I can't start from the other side, I can only start building from here.
I was thinking this morning about the verse in James where he tells us the tongue is such a small part and yet it has so much control to steer us where it will. Sometimes it is easy to forget that even though words are not being spoken, they are an overflow of the abundance of our hearts. I want my words to be a blessing, a gift, something to make people think and laugh and know that they aren't alone. These words, the gift of God to each of us have power to bless or curse, to heal or wound. It is not any less true of written words.
Humility seems to be love's perfect response in this situation. From your WORDS, I can tell that you've pretty much got that all figured out. Well done, Mom! Well done, Wife!! Well done, Julie!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a good post.
ReplyDeletebeautifully written, Julie! it's so true - words have so much power! and through wires, meanings can be skewed and tones misinterpreted. you have a gift with words; sometimes being raw and edgy isn't what needs to be said. raw and edgy can also be offensive and counterproductive, as I've learned the hard way.
ReplyDeletenever stop being you.
blessings!
This is actually something I was just thinking about today...in the context of how things became so weird between myself and a certain much older person back in February...
ReplyDeleteI have since spoken to Devan about the whole incident, and while he agrees that I had a right to feel weird and he doesn't think I should be in contact with this person, he has also heard this person say similar things to other girls...and the tone was completely non serious.
However, from where I sat 2,000 miles away, reading simply what he wrote to me and having to assign a tone to his words in my own mind, they became very, very uncomfortable. Even if they weren't meant to scare, they did.
That's the problem with the internet.
Yes, I'm sure we could all use this adjustment, to some degree or another. Thanks for the reminder to carefully calculate and weigh my words!
ReplyDelete