As you read this, it is most likely the week or day when our country is on the edge of its seat.  So many people so divided, all hoping for what they feel is a positive direction for our country.

I don’t know about you, but I never thought we’d be in the shape we are in as a nation. As a people.

I’m not talking about politics and I’m not talking about what our current government has or has not done. I’m talking about the way we’ve become a group of people who get angry, who lash out, who let our own feelings and our selfish natures take control of who we really are down deep.

It has become the norm to bash. We are taking shots at one another all the time. Finding something or someone to bash has become the norm. People don’t get their way and so they decide to bash. Someone disagrees with you? Bash them. Someone doesn’t do something exactly as you think it needs to be done? Bash.

So yes, I’m ready for change. There’s so very much that needs to change around here. The country.  The world.

I’m ready for people to accept the fact they are going to be told “No” sometimes. I want people to see that sometimes decisions are being made for the greater good. How about stopping and thinking? Put yourself in the shoes of someone besides yourself.  Try to understand. Just because you are upset or something strikes a nerve doesn’t mean you have the right to spread negativity.  

I know we have freedom of speech around here (do we?), but you are adding to the overall discord we are experiencing in our country.  My pastor advised people to stop “lobbing grenades.” He is right. Words are terrible weapons.

Tell your kids “No.”  Tell them they need to lose sometimes and fail at things. Tell them they can make B’s and C’s – especially when they don’t do their best work or even work at all. Tell the girls they can’t dress in skimpy clothing and tell the boys they can’t do a lot of things.  Take phones away. Put parental controls on phones and on your TVs and computers.  

 Tell people they need to wear masks.  I don’t like them either, but I figure it’s something we need to do.  There’s something to be said for this mask thing, and we all need to learn what it means to be uncomfortable for a little while longer.  

Are you going to hang out? Do you want these kids to stay in school?  Stop posting pictures on social media where everyone is shoulder-to-shoulder without masks. Limit your gatherings. Be careful. Follow the rules.  Let’s get this crap over and done with. Please.

I hope that people don’t riot in the streets with pitchforks if things close down for a while. I can only imagine what will happen if schools have to be closed again – yet we have parties and gatherings without masks and distancing.  Sheesh.

Go ahead and speak up when you are with a group of friends who decide to bash our schools, our teachers, our churches, our pastors, and so on. It seems folks who are out there trying to help people are the ones getting bashed the most, simply because they don’t do one or two little things exactly the way we want them done.

Yes, I mention churches too. Church folk are often the vilest when it comes to gossip and bashing, and you have only to go to lunch or a gathering of church ladies or gentlemen to get an earful. You can walk in a church and get the once over for what you are wearing. 

We wonder why people have a problem coming to church, although we certainly shouldn’t be coming to church for the people. The actions of folks like this remind us we are all sinners capable of experiencing hate and discord in our hearts. We need to be praying about it several times a day. I’m in hopes there can be great revival in our churches and our country. Let’s do some changing, churches.

I’m ready for people to stop thinking they know how to solve everyone else’s problems. If you don’t really know what someone’s job entails, don’t come up with what you think are simple solutions for them. 

If you haven’t really taken the time to do research or investigate, don’t assume there is an easy solution. Yes, I’m afraid I’m talking about schools again. Do you know how many people have given us advice on how to run our schools in the midst of this pandemic?  Most know next to nothing and see no harm in handing out ideas they assume we haven’t already considered.  

It’s almost insulting. Suggestions are fine, but don’t assume your simple solution hasn’t been something already thought about by people who have had many years of higher education in this field. 

If any of us in education went out and tried to tell any one of them how to do their jobs, there’d be immediate backlash. Furthermore, school folks are sharp enough not to go there. Besides, we have too much on our plates anyway.  I’m afraid I’m in the mind set these days where I think the schools and most of the people working in them should be revered. We are really doing the very best we can.

But there’s really one change I am putting above all others. Most of all, I’m ready for a change in my own heart. I’m not blaming a soul for how I’ve let myself get off track. I’ve forgotten at times who I really am. It takes very little for me to lose my heart and have it change all sorts of dark colors.

I have felt animosity toward people I care about very much. I’ve said things I shouldn’t, some of it in this column most likely. I have lost some of the joy I had about people in general. I have only to hear a comment or see something disturbing to turn into the very people I am preaching about. 

So, you see, I’m no better than the people I’m discussing in this column.  The finger is pointing back at me. I don’t blame anyone or anything for the way I’ve allowed myself to become a negative and angry person. I brought it all on myself. Venting is necessary at times, but it’s time to get reined in again.  

The change I desire needs to begin in my own heart.