Understand this, my dear brothers and
sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.
Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires.
James 1:19 – 20, NLT
I’m grateful this verse came to mind before I said
something stupid the other night. And now I can write about it.
I’m one of those pathetic people who live on Facebook. I
blame it on my publisher who wants me to publicize and promote. The theory is
if you like what I’m eating for supper, you will click over to Amazon and buy
my books. ( Is it working? The link is on the right.)
So of course I shared my new experience preparing a
garden fresh spaghetti squash, topped with butter, salt, and pepper. Some
friends responded, suggesting other toppings. It was this comment that pushed
me onto the path of “quick to get angry and quick to speak,” the opposite of the
verse above.
Sour cream - dairy and if you
must do it - low fat though I think not from photos of you and salsa - minimum
calories. As for butter, well, what is life without butter??
Wait, whaaat? My friend assumed I would NOT use low-fat
sour cream because she has seen from photos of me that I’m a lardo who loves to
inhale food?! My feelings were hurt. After being painfully thin in the early
years of my life, I’m now carrying a number of excess pounds. (The number will
not be revealed. If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you, probably by smothering
you with my blubber.)
But this was the first time anyone actually called me
fat. (That I know of!) Since I’m also forgetful, the insult slipped my mind
until I reviewed the post a few hours later. Then it hurt all over again.
I pondered deleting the comment. I pondered confronting
my friend in a private message. Then I remembered James telling me to be slow
to speak (or type) and slow to get angry. I decided to attempt doing this God’s
way, and within minutes an alternate interpretation of my friend’s comments
came to mind.
Maybe she meant I would NOT use low-fat sour cream
because she has seen from photos of me that I’m NOT a lardo and I don’t need to
worry about the calories in high test sour cream. Because this friend has
always been kind and supportive, the new interpretation made much more sense.
My anger and hurt feelings disappeared, replaced by
relief that God’s warning had stopped me and given me yet another opportunity
to shake my head and laugh at myself.
What's not to laugh about? |
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