we are too eager

It is such a marvel to me how seldom it is truly appropriate that we humans speak into each others spiritual lives. My marveling enters in because, while the appropriateness is seldom, the act itself continues, leaving behind a gory wake. This seems to be especially true of Christians--probably because our sense of morality and truth compels us to communicate this to others, especially those we see are not living as they ought to.

I am not trying to enter into the controversial haze around the issues of there being one God, one Truth, and a Christ-follower's commission to extend that Truth to those who do not have it.

I am simply reflecting today on elements of human nature that I have observed and this thought: it seems that one's journey and consequent experiences cannot be rushed.

For a virtual smorgasbord of reasons, we are often stepping into the boundaries of each others lives to offer warning, concern, sometimes demands. With the best intentions, we find ourselves trying to save one another from the fires over which our hands are poised, but sometimes the truths we know from our own mistakes and disappointments are not clearly truth to the other, and they must feel the smoldering flame before that becomes absolute truth for them, too.

In truth, humans are all bumbling through their stories towards the end, no matter how careful we try to be, because to face reality, this course is full of obstacles, many of them invisible, and a stubbed toe can simply not be avoided. Sometimes, they are just a part of the direction in which we chose to travel and are used to turn us slightly to the right or left.

Now, it is unequivocally true that someone should not stick their finger into the whirring blades of a garbage disposal, and someone who knows the pain of that does have a responsibility to cry out "Stop!" I am, however, addressing the fact that some people will lose their finger anyway and that this experience will be only one of many painful moments that have the potential to lead to real growth.

Also, as hinted by the opening sentences, my real focus is situations that, while they may be reflected in the physical, have a very real spiritual root. It is very hard for many of us to ignore things in others lives that are morally, philosophically, spiritually incorrect in light of Christian Truth and not say something about it. Even with intentions of the greatest purity, when we find ourselves insisting that another believe and live out of a truth which they cannot understand or believe at this point in their journey, we do not accomplish even our own puny goals, much less the eternal goals for that person's life.

And so the question remains: what do we do when, out of genuine love, we feel compelled to reach across those boundaries into someone else's world?

I am asking myself this question. Today, I reflect on these three thoughts:

Remember Jesus, who shared meals with tax collectors and lifted the Adulteresses' head.

Speak for the good of those who cannot speak for themselves.

You are only the true authority of one thing: your own story.