People baffle me, confuse me, amaze me, and anger me…sometimes all at the same time. They do things that make no sense, for reasons I do not understand. They make plans that are doomed to fail. They enter relationships with people who will only hurt them. They try to control things that aren’t within their power. They consume things that are toxic. They do things that are dangerous. They watch things that are evil. And they read things that are stupid. And then they whine when things go wrong.
Yes, I could have replaced a couple of those “they” words with “we” or “I”. After all, I’m wise and wonderful, but I’m only human. My problem is technology. I actually see and speak to a limited group of people each week. However, with television, the internet, and the telephone that number increases exponentially. So by the time I’ve read a few blogs, watched the local and national news, checked on a few new programs, answered my email, and chatted with friends and family, I find myself thinking “What is WRONG with people?”
And here is my answer: We are spoiled brats!
That was my grandmother’s term for people who expected much more than they had earned. It was also her description of people who wanted their own way every time, all the time. And I would add that these days it describes people who “want it ALL, NOW”. We have become a society without patience! Delayed gratification has become a bad thing. Cooperation is seen as weakness. Tolerance is viewed as the only politically correct response to anything, however evil or misguided. Gray is the color of the world, and there are no “lines to cross” anymore. They’ve all been swept away by “acceptance”.
Thank goodness I keep a guidebook handy so I can understand the craziness. When I get upset I can consult a few pages and realize that nothing new is going on…it’s all just the latest version of what has always happened with us frail human beings. We step off the path to do our own thing, get hopelessly lost, perhaps even injured, and then cry for help.
Psalms 106:43-44 “Many times he delivered them. But they were bent on rebellion and they wasted away in their sin. But he took note of their distress when he heard their cry; for their sake he remembered his covenant and out of his great love he relented.”
So if people confuse, baffle, amaze, or anger you today, just remember, nothing they do is really new.
Comments