I'm tired of incivility (or was that rude of me to say?)

I'm weary of the web. I'm weary of rudeness. I'm weary of getting a headache every time someone rolls down our street with a subwoofer that is turning their brain to mush.

And you're weary of this post. Already. :-D

Today, I purchased a Rachael Ray garbage bowl. I like Rachel Ray - she's cute, funny, perky and smiles in a perfect triangle. Makes me laugh. Did you know there's a blog totally devoted to ripping on Rachael Ray? They refer to her as "Raytard" (so let's use an offensive term to be more offensive, eh?) and drone on about how much they hate her and everything about her.

1) Somebody (a lot of bodies) have WAAAY too much time on their hands
2) Does all this energy expended actually DO anything? No.

But the blessing and the curse of the Internet is that it allows anybody anyplace to spout off anything that comes into their little brains. That can be good - in the hands of writers like StoryGirl, Jenelle, Ruth, and others who you can find in links on the right of this page, there is encouragement, humor and enough interesting stuff to keep you reading for weeks.

But it can also be bad. Anyone can be as rude and offensive as they wish, hiding behind whatever name they choose with no risk to their day-to-day life. And we get to see the fruits of that - all the nastiness that can come from the human imagination.

Tell me again how all people are basically good? Tell me how humans all have a basically decent nature, and so really aren't need of a savior or redemption? When no one is watching, or when hidden in the shadows of the web, what nature do people show to the world? Light? Goodness? Purity? Or all the wickedness that their hearts can imagine?

Look at your world. And see fallen creatures in need of redemption. I may be weary of the rudeness, but I'll keep that to myself. I'll try to live as a bearer of the Image, one who carries the Light. Making the cashier smile at the store. Getting a laugh out of a server at lunch. Giving my doctor an extra hug and letting her know how much we appreciate her. Thanking the guy that carried my purchases out to the van for me as I pushed along in my wheelchair.

And, from time to time, we'll see that Light shine back at us. A door held open. A smile and a wave. A kind word. A hug. And the weariness lifts from our spirits, as we see His Image all around us.

So, instead of seeing the rudeness, I need to look for the Image. Here's to refocusing my eyes, to see what God sees.