In a matter of one post and 350 words or less I managed to make several unfair assumptions.
1. That people actually read this, other than KLM (or Connie G or Anna G).
2. That readers would be guaranteed hear what I’m trying to say, rather than what is actually said.
3. That I am incapable of committing the same blunders as that which I critique.
Those are just the big ones. There’s a comments section, feel free to add your own running tally.
Now that I realize my blunders (thanks to the loving awareness of a good friend… and a quick sidenote: everyone needs at least one, if not four, friends that can play the awareness card for you without fear), I must make bloggy amends. Because if I don’t, then I wouldn’t be living what I strongly to be true about God, people, words and love.
Today on the View (how’s that for a segue?) they revisited last week’s debacle of the Bill O’Reilly interview. Because I don’t watch much TV (including news) and apparently none of my facebook friends watched either (because that’s where I get my news) I had no idea. But today’s conversation about how people speak of others really made me think. BO’R makes his mark through extreme, unthoughtful comments, often at the expense of others who typically have no voice. I don’t appreciate that. I think it’s lousy entertainment and downright awful “journalism” if you insist upon putting him in that category.
But this evening served as a reminder that these clothes aren’t fireproof. Though not intended (and I will attempt to limit this as my only justification), perhaps my flippant comments may also seem to be at the expense of others. I’ve said before how I hate limiting a conversation to simply issues, but I nevertheless find myself painting with a wide brush. If I claim to respect differing opinions but my remarks can be interpreted on the scale of hurtful, unthoughtful or disrespectful, then perhaps I should take up paper mache rather than writing.
The book of Hebrews tells us that the Word is a double-edged sword, able to cut to the deep (MM Paraphrase). Though I hold the scriptures in higher regard than other literature, or perhaps a blog, I do live with a profound conviction that words matter. I wouldn’t be at my desk night after night if they didn’t. Words have the ability to heal and to hurt. It is by a person’s word that you discover true identity. I believe the differentiator between really, really good parents and the rest of us lies in how they speak to their children and one another (Do they do what they say? How do they speak of & respect others?). God created the universe with the power of words; He spoke Life into being.
So let tonight be an open letter of apology to anyone who I’ve carelessly tossed under the bus, as they say in corporate-world speak, especially when done so inadvertently. If I’ve taken your liberties in telling a story or painted a picture with the wrong colors, please forgive me. If I’ve recklessly tossed around words or ideas and you care deeply about those concepts, allow me the grace to say, “I’m learning” and also “I’m sorry.”
That, any perhaps I should hire an editor.