Mirrors

I've always second-guessed myself when pointing out the mistakes of others.  Because, I mean, who am I to criticize?  Who am I, this flawed and uninfluential individual, to draw attention to the shortcomings of a fellow, flawed human?

It seems obvious to me, yet I feel so isolated on my little island of respect for others.

People certainly don't hesitate to criticize one another, to exploit and magnify weaknesses. They seek out fractures in the beautifully imperfect beings that we are and drive their judgmental stakes in deep, creating painful chasms within us. I know they do because I see it every single day at school, at work, and sadly, at church too.

Naturally, conflict arises.  Conflict founded on disapproval in others, founded on the notion that some characteristic or behavior or detail about an individual is fundamentally wrong.  We should engage in conflict because there are, indeed, times when the differences between us are so inexcusably prominent that they scream to be resolved or, at least, positioned in such a way that it no longer trespasses on who we are.  Iron sharpens iron, as it was meant to be.

But people just don't participate in constructive conflict anymore. They fight, quite simply, to bring harm to others.  They compulsively judge, chipping away at the already fragile composures of people just like themselves.  They pervert the very nature of conversation and collaboration by injecting elements of discord into the lives of those around them, and the cycle continues.

When did we, as God's self-sustaining creations, lose the right to form our own opinions?  When in the exact chronological moment in the existence of everything did it suddenly become unacceptable to be different?

"Society" is a joke.  We've allowed ourselves to rally behind relentless, idealist bigots, accepting everything they say and crucifying those who disagree.  Republicans, democrats, homosexuals, heterosexuals, whites, blacks, everyone is guilty of this new paradigm.  There's an invisible exemplar in society today that tells each new generation to follow existing trends and every new pattern of thought for the sake of popularity.  Everyone is striving to find the path of least resistance and shaming the ones who try to break the mold.

If people embraced their insecurities and, just for a moment, start treating their fellow man like something other than a failure in progress, maybe then they could find happiness we all so long for.  Maybe if people started trying, simply trying to see each other like Jesus sees them, maybe then there would be peace.