Not All Causes Can Be Your Causes

Periodically I notice comments on Facebook that get under my skin.  The topic isn’t important, but the message is.  The message is something along the lines of, “If you don’t care about this topic, you’re a selfish jerk.”

In fact, some people have said things to me about issues, expecting my support, but when I don’t give it, they get downright shaming.  One of them was about how disappointed someone was in me for not noticing that one public figure was a narcissist.  Well, the truth is I disagreed with her assessment.  I also had virtually no interest in the arena where this person was popular, so I naturally hadn’t paid a lot of attention to this person.  In her world, apparently none of this was valid.  I was simply a terrible disappointment for failing to notice this person’s supposedly narcissistic ways.

There was a comment that I remember from several years ago when a lion was murdered in a sanctuary by a ruthless hunter.  It broke my heart seeing such a beautiful, wonderful animal murdered for no purpose beyond the hunter’s desire to say he killed this lion.  As I read through comments on a post on the topic, I saw a comment that said something like, “You people get so upset about just a lion, but do you even care about the fact that so many innocent babies are aborted every year?!”

In my younger days, comments like this made me feel guilty.  Honestly, I’ve never been interested in politics or the abortion debate or many other current events issues.  My heart lies more with issues about animal rights, Christian topics & naturally surviving abuse.  I felt I must be wrong for that until I realized something.

This doesn’t mean I don’t care about the country in which I live or the rights of the unborn.  What it means is I feel God wants me to focus more on animal rights, Christian topics & surviving abuse.

No one person can support every single issue!  It’s too much!  No one can afford to donate money to every worthy cause either,  simply because there are so many causes.

Also, no one can emotionally afford to support every single worthy cause.  Strong emotions can drain a person, even when those emotions are positive ones.  Everyone needs breaks, to distribute their emotions wisely & to do so with balance.  Doing this isn’t a bad thing.  It doesn’t make a person selfish or uncaring.  It makes a person human!

If someone tries to shame you for not actively supporting some cause that they support, I hope you will remember the information I shared here today.  Every single person has a unique calling in life & that means they need to support whatever issues they feel called to support.  That does NOT mean they need to support whatever the cause of the moment is.  God gives each person a unique purpose in their life, & the approval of other people isn’t a requirement.  What it does mean is that each person should follow their unique path, supporting the issues closest to their heart, & allowing others to do the same without judgment.

This also means each person should support the issues on their heart however they deem appropriate.  For some folks, it means writing as I do.  For some other folks, this means donating money.  For others, it means picketing in front of large corporations or political offices.  For still others it means working to change laws.  Not one of these is any better or worse than the other.  Different doesn’t equal wrong or bad.  It’s simply different, as each person’s unique walk that God has given them.

Some Random Thoughts

In all honesty, I’m NOT at all interested in politics & I’m sure this will be my only political post ever.  I have a hard enough time managing my own life without the responsibility of learning about candidates & issues.  As irresponsible as that may seem to some folks, it’s the truth.  That being said, I do have one issue that is sticking in my craw.  Today as the 45th president is sworn into office, I thought it might be a good time to say it.

 

There is no real respect for the office of the President anymore.  Listen to how people talk about various Presidents & you will see this is true.  They are often called awful names rather than people simply disagreeing with their decisions & actions.  People who don’t share the opinions of those who dislike Presidents are ridiculed, told how stupid they are & also called awful names.

 

And just for the record- I’ve seen this behavior in both conservative & liberal minded people, so I’m not trying to criticize any one political affiliation.

 

If this describes your behavior, then please think about the things you say!  Like a President or not, he is in an extremely important job that is also incredibly stressful & challenging.  Would you want that kind of pressure, running the country?  I certainly wouldn’t!  They are men of great power, sure, but they are also human beings, so this position must be very hard on them!  I once heard someone say Presidents often age in “dog years” because of the stress of their position.

 

How about rather than criticizing Presidents, praying for them instead?  For a past President, why not pray for them & their families to know the love of God?  If they have health problems, pray for their health.  Ask God to bless & take care of them.  For the current President, why not ask God to guide his decisions, to give him wisdom, compassion, discernment, strength & courage?  And, let’s not forget those who work under the President.  They may have less responsibility than he does, but they support him.  They also need wisdom, compassion, etc., & certainly could benefit for your prayers.

 

And, don’t forget- people don’t  have to agree with you 100% about everything.  Just because someone disagrees with your views doesn’t necessarily mean they are stupid or against you.  It simply means they think differently than you do about something.  Different doesn’t equal bad!

 

I hope straying so far out into left field doesn’t offend you, Dear Reader.  I mean no offense at all.  I just hope to raise some awareness to what seems to be an all too common problem in society that I believe needs to change.