Looking Up

This is my last Thursday for a few months of waking up with leisure on my hands.

I got a temporary job working 15 hours a week, so I can work around my Pisgah job. Perfection. It came at just the right moment--fulfills a need we have to pad the bank account a bit. So though I am a bit sad to give up my leisurely Tuesdays and Thursdays, I am excited about new opportunity, getting out of the house, and joining the work force of America in a place that isn't an academy campus.

We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday was a good day. I went to supper in the caf and spent some time talking to those Anderson people. It was fun and it was nice to touch base with them as it's been awhile. And then I came home and did a whole lot of nothing spectacular. My favorite kind of evening.

Earlier in the day, a friend of mine and I were talking. My friend told me a story of how she'd received a letter of criticism and it hurt her deeply.  I won't go into detail as this it isn't my story to tell...but I had her story on my mind all evening.

Recently we had an altercation on our campus that resulted in kids getting innocently involved and a divisive staff--all about an issue that really didn't need to be that big of a deal.

On Sunday we had our SA banquet. The gym was transformed due to hours of dedication and work by a crew who gave selflessly of their time and energy. And though most everyone oohhed and aaahhhed appropriately, there were a few naysayers who made it their mission to criticize and let everyone know how they felt.

So I am just wondering...

Do these people feel they have the right to openly criticize and tear down? Is there some innate need to bring discouragement and pain to others' hearts in such a brazen way? This past week I've spent a lot of time shaking my head in exasperation at the thoughtlessness of others who apparently deem themselves the guardians of the only way.

And then I wonder...

Do these same people ever look at the stars?

Sometimes I get really frustrated with life. And sometimes I have a very strong need to tear down and write letters of disapproval and frustration. Sometimes I want to berate someone for an action that I deem unfair or thoughtless. I tend to think that's human nature. We all see from our own perspective, and we don't take the time, nor have the time honestly, to figure out everyone else's perspective. And so in those moments when I am just ready to burst, I call Tammy--my go-to friend.

And then? I go outside and look at the stars.

Because when I step outside my house and look up, I am amazed at my own insignificance. Suddenly everything goes back into perspective as I recognize how truly small I am. My opinions are simply that: opinions. I am not the final word on the right way.

Nobody is.

We live in a world where everyone has to figure out what is right for them. And what is right for one, may not be right for another. And when we think we have the right to tell someone that their way is wrong, or that the way they are choosing to live their lives goes against our own moral principles--well...

We need to take a moment, step outside, and look up.