First of all, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope that whatever today
has in store for you is something that you can celebrate in some way, maybe
watching the parade, enjoying a football game, or eating enough food to feed a
small country.
I just watched a story about Baltimore Raven football player
Ray Rice and his work to end bullying and strive towards friendship. He pointed
out that bullying has gotten so bad “because of the power of social media”.
When I looked up the definitions of bullying, I saw that
many things I have seen on social media and heard from people is bullying –
straight and plain. Someone can be a bully if they belittle someone because of
a difference of opinion (ie: “My news channel is better than yours”) or
anything degrading through a disagreement (ie: “You’re an idiot for thinking we’re
going to change”). (Yes, the examples might seem far-fetched, but these are
statements I’ve heard or seen in the past month).
Does this mean that people cannot have a difference of
opinion or disagree? No. It means that everyone is entitled to his or her
opinion, and people need to understand that there may be a point when further
research is needed or it is just time to agree to disagree.
Rice also pointed out that we should “Be kind to somebody,
because you never know what someone’s going through.” In a time of turmoil of uncertainties,
this statement can’t ring any louder. We don’t know what someone else is going
through. We don’t know the phone call that someone just received or the visit
that so-and-so just encountered or the small disaster that the guy around the
corner just dealt with. We can’t read someone’s mind or translate the stress
that someone is going through.
In a time when we can watch “hero” movies, let’s start at
home, or better yet, within ourselves. As the story I saw pointed out, “You can
be a hero just by being someone’s friend”.
Give thanks for what you do have. You may not agree with
that lady, but bless-her-heart for being there when something is needed. You
may not like that guy, but less-his-heart for praying for your family the other
day when you didn’t even realize it. You may not like how things are priced,
but thank God that you have a place to purchase that stuff. And the list can go
on.
Give thanks.
