“Toward a More Civil Approach to One Another”
I have not been very civil here of late. That is putting it mildly! The other night, I went off verbally on one of my coworkers at the restaurant, and even threw a soggy, dirty cleaning cloth at him.
That is not civil discourse!
Do you ever find it difficult to remain courteous toward those with whom you disagree, or those whom you think are being unkind? I believe that I detect a spike in a lack of civility in our society as a whole. Perhaps I’m mistaken, though. Perhaps it’s just me.
I’m not sure if all the election news in the past year or so has caused, exacerbated, or merely reflected this lack of civility. Perhaps election news (and the election itself) has done all three.
I do know this for sure: I can’t directly affect the civility of other people or the nation , but I can get my own lack of civility under God’s control—and my control.
How do I plan to do that? I’m not sure that I have a plan, but I do have some random thoughts.
First, I need to remember that my worth is not measured by what people say to me or about me. I find that most of my lack of civility is triggered by people who speak rudely to me. The truth is that I am thin-skinned. Perhaps the reason one particular political figure irritates me so much is that I see myself in him—and I don’t like what I see! I say that my worth comes from God. Perhaps I should begin to believe that, and act on that belief.
Second, when I have feelings of being under attack, I need to stop and think. What is the proper response here? Nuclear reactors can be dangerous. So can human reactors. A thoughtful (and gentle) response is always better than a quick come-back.
Third, I can pray the serenity prayer. I have a tendency to pray that prayer when I’m already pretty serene. It is more important to pray the serenity prayer when I’m not in a serene situation.
Well, there it is: my blog for today. I greatly fear that it is more a confessional than a blog post.
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