Goodness in the face of badness gets people's attention. It makes people stop and notice that your response wasn't measured in wrong, even though it would have been justified. I was a little wide-eyed when I first read Proverbs 25:21-22, where it says when we give good to our enemies, it's like we're pouring coals of fire on their heads.

If we've chosen to slide, we can also choose to put on the brakes. We can choose to turn, to adjust what we're doing, and change the direction we're going. Jesus knew that Peter would slide and He gently encouraged him.

It’s easy to know we shouldn’t talk bad about other people. But what about when we tear ourselves down? When we discourage, discount, demean, and dismiss our own worth or ability...even if we’re ‘only’ talking inside our head, we still hear our internal voice. And sometimes it can be pretty loud.

What do you see when you look at me

Hunched and broken under the tree

Holes in my shoes and stench in the air

No shower to wash my scraggly hair

I slept in the woods as you drove by

You glanced, but didn’t hear my cry

It’s strange living as a first gen in the Experiential Age. Our brain is fed a steady diet of images about relationships, body image, career, health, success, achievements, education, caretaking, knowledge, ambition, comparison, living circumstances, best life practices, and on and on.

We like to think bearing God’s image is something we control. As if it’s up to us to do it...if we’re being “good” people. I think it’s something else completely.

It’s amazing the powerful way a fleeting thought can spiral us faster than anything. We’re doing good, and then suddenly we’re not.

When anger rules and hatred festers

When unforgiveness drains

The Light is hidden, tucked inside

And not allowed to reign