People judge you, they always will. It's become apparent the older I become there will always be someone who knows exactly what you are all about. They'll have the inside scoop on your life and an understanding of why You are You. And they will be completely wrong, but so convinced of their divinely dispensed knowledge they won't believe anything else about you except what they know to be true in their hearts about YOU. Their own intrinsic insight into the human condition sets them apart from the rest of us normal, nearsighted beings.
Who am I talking about?! I'm glad you asked. I'm talking about Me, I'm talking about You, I'm talking about Everyone. We are all guilty of this type of self-righteous, hypocritical and reprehensible behavior. Before you decry modern social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, we had the National Enquirer, The Globe and Star Tabloid papers, gossip columns in discreet sections of reputable papers, Hedda Hopper, Ann Landers, and not that long ago having your own phone line in your room was all the rage. Read Jane Austin's books about 19th Century England when a simple innuendo of impropriety could ruin a life for life.
Why are we built this way? We become giddy when we hear a juicy bit of gossip. Look at us now! Look at the news! It's tiresome and wears me out. Why do we act this way? I don't know for sure, but I have an opinion. Let me give you what I think is the real reason and I'll put it in the words of a friend who put it best, "At least they're not talking about me." I think that's it, we talk and don't feel guilty (as we should) because we don't feel the prying eyes, hurtful words, the shame, the anger or helplessness. But when that laser focus points our way we are quick to cry foul. This gossip game is nothing more than a vicious, never-ending cycle.
But it doesn't have to be, if you and I will only stop for a moment and think about what we're going to say before we say it. Am I naive? Maybe, but I'm willing to try. No, nothing has happened to me. Two things struck me this week. First, I tried to watch the news and there wasn't any news. Plenty of hate, strong opinions, political posturing, etc. I may complain to my TV provider about a refund on those channels (ALL news channels). And second, I was reading chapter 3 in the Book of James and remembered one of my professors comments about the beginning of the chapter "You can start a forest fire with a match, but not a flood with a cup of water".
I think it's time for us all to stop playing with matches. Alfred Pennyworth's line from The Dark Night will prove true: “...some of us aren't looking for anything logical, like money. We can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some of us just want to watch the world burn.”
