Standing For What Matters

Sometimes sitting on the sideline can't be an option, even when you are amed only with reason and your challenger carries a bomb. Tonight I sat through a community meeting because a company is bringing a recovery/ treatment center to our quiet community...ok, I say quiet, but I think I might be more accurate to say my raging community.
The individuals who came here from Utah on a moments notice to provide accurate information about what they do and don't do were met with heckling, shouting, called liars, and treated in a most uncharitable manner. I was pretty frustrated that my neighbors were so rude...and were content to remain ignorant...and did I say, they were enraged?
Going into the meeting I wasn't sure of anything except that I couldn't sit this out. The previous two days were a flood of bully emails circulated through our community email service (that a tireless individual voluntarily maintains). It was obvious that the most vocal in the community were not at all informed.
To be fair, the community was responding in fear, in ignorance. But the problem is, they wanted to maintain a mob mentality, and under no circumstance did they want to hear anything that didn't confirm or affirm their fear.
Why did I not sit on the sideline and let the company take their public throttling and get on a plane and go back to Utah to figure out how to move forward? I am not a lawyer or a city official...I can't speak reason to a frenzied crowd...nobody can. Mind you there was nobody there who could be made happy under the current scenario of this company coming into their back yard, so why am I ok with it?
Because I know we have a need here. My friend buried her 17 year old daughter after a heroin overdose...my neighbor is a recovering alcoholic...because I would rather have an addict in treatment than Know they are driving down my street in an altered state without a place to go for help.
Moreover, because the Christ in me is tired of pretending that social justice is someone else's job. I would trade homes with the neighbors who are afraid. If I had the resource, I would buy their homes and send them off with a blessing. But I can't do that. What I could do, I did. I extended southern hospitality to the fine folks, truly lovely people from Utah. I apologized that they were treated so harshly when they had followed every rule and law in purchasing the land and getting the appropriate permits.
I shared a meal with them, my new friends...I simply did the next right thing...I stood for something...I stood for civility, for reason, for being decent. That was not the norm tonight, and that bothers me.
So, while I will not become an activist, I will be more mindful to take a stand for what matters, and to me, treating people with respect matters. Extending grace matters. Speaking truth in love matters.
Stand for what matters...the sideline has enough representation.

A Peach Among the Pairs

So...it is the month for expressive Love...romance...Valentine's Day.  Egad!  I have to admit, seeing that on the calendar is akin to a goblin goosing me at Halloween.  The world screams reminders of how alone we are when we are not paired up with the soul mate of our dreams.  And the tendancy is to perhaps feel very misplaced in a world of couples when you are single...
However, it is important to have a little perspective before sliding down into the pit of lonliness.  First, I have (and I am sure you have) far too many fabulous people in my life to ever make the claim I am alone.  Secondly, I wouldn't trade places with too many of my friends who are in a relationship...they are really hard work!  And most importantly, I think that whether or not I am involved in a relationship with a man I love and admire has little bearing on how I should view myself any day of the year.
So, why the second guessing of being alone when Valentine's Day rolls around...why feel like a giant billboard has been erected in the universe advertising that the world is made for pairs and not individuals?  Because Hallmark likes it that way...
What then shall I do?  Bemoan that I will not get that special Valentine and roses and fabulous dinner OR, send out cards to the wonderful people who have blessed my life?  Real tough choice...NOT. 
I am reminded that I have invested deeply into the lives of people, and the return is always there.  With few exceptions in a lifetime, my friends have not 'broken up' with me, or unfriended me.  There are, to be honest, those who have, and for them I send a prayer and a blessing and hope that they are well.
For the rest, I send this wish, that 2012 would give us quality time together, whether laughing, watching a movie, taking a hike, traveling, or deep in conversation.  I would have you know, I am grateful you are part of my life.
So rather than feel like a thorn on the rose of February, I celebrate being a Peach Among the Pairs.

Here I sit, another day..
A peach among the pairs...amd secretly hoping that it will not always be that way, but knowing I will be just fine if it is.