With all that’s going on in our world today it’s easy to find something to bitch about, er, I mean vent about. Whether it’s the political climate that seems to be warming the world as much as the meteorological climate, or it’s the economy, stupid, there’s no drought when it comes to things for which we humans vent.
To vent is to basically let off some steam, to release pent up pressure before some catastrophic event. Like an explosion. No one likes that. Too much collateral damage. Too many pieces to clean up after. Especially if you have a stew cooking in a pot. That creates quite the mess. So it is if we don’t take time to let what’s stewing within us to release pressure. That, too, creates quite the mess.
I suppose that I could carry on all day about what it means to vent or pent. Keeping pressure pent up within ultimately leads to dreadful circumstances. Internally or externally, pressure must find a way out.
So, I guess that I should get on with it.
Tribalism is taking its toll on me. The whole ‘us’ and ‘them’ view is strangling the life out of me. It’s easy to be ‘us.’ We are the folks who know the difference between right and wrong. We are the true caretakers of (insert the topic du jour). They are misguided. They can’t see the obvious truth that’s staring them in the eye. I hear things like “those libtards are ruining the country.” Or, “ there’s darkness on the Right.”
Both sides. ALL sides! If there are sides there will be conflict.
And, I’m just sick of it.
Yeah, it’s easy to dismiss those with whom we disagree. They simply don’t know any better. Or, so we think. It’s more difficult when the disparagement flows so easily from the mouths and attitudes of members of our own tribe. As I listen to folk whom I love and respect glibly dismiss those “others” I find myself doubly hurt. This is especially true of the family of faith to which I belong. We consider ourselves to be a welcoming community. Those who are outcast in society, whether LGBTQ+ or African American or immigrants or the poor or the unhoused are welcomed with open arms. We rightfully provide a safe space for any and all who meet our definition of outcast. However, as I listen to my spiritual siblings speak of those they deem “unwelcoming,” I see the head of Medusa peering out from the shadows seeking who to glare at. I know that none of us is ever truly aware that we’re acting exactly as those whom we castigate. But, we are.
I don’t say this to simply call out the apparent hypocrisy that is exposed in those moments of careless speech. Even though it is. I say this because it bugs me. Like that miserable mosquito that keeps buzzing around my ear, I want nothing more than to squash it.
But, then, I stop to examine myself. Have I not been as guilty as anyone? Whether I can’t let go of some past hurt or present ignorance, mea culpa.
For me as a follower of Jesus that constitutes something called sin. A missing of the mark; a falling short of the glory of God. Whatever you want to call it, it’s simply playing into the base nature of humanity.
There is a better way, I’m told. The Way of the Servant. The Simple Way. The Way of the Cross. These are ways to describe our own place in the Real World. The Real World that tells us that we are better than those ‘others.’ The Real World that requires us to draw lines and live within tribal boundaries. The Real World where people live and work and play. Sorry, not sorry, but that Real World is not Real. It’s made up of our cultural ideas and identity. It’s exists in our thoughts and prayers. It keeps people on edge, or with a knife’s edge at each others’ throats. In a word, it’s false.
I’m not at all sure where to go after I finish venting. I surely have no answers for the questions that persist in our human consciousness. Mostly to our own hurt. But, I promise myself to search for that better way to a world in which we can disagree with respect. Where we don’t backbite and devour on another. For, I know that it exists; somewhere.