tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33818852.post5806974608240071586..comments2023-10-21T23:57:46.155-04:00Comments on Wheat Among Tares: Insults Falling Upon Usterrihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12399706958844399216noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33818852.post-25184187016606488052010-10-06T21:04:25.919-04:002010-10-06T21:04:25.919-04:00Retriever, I was narcissistically referring to mys...Retriever, I was narcissistically referring to myself as a frequent offender of others. I am unfortunately familiar with this topicAssistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33818852.post-55836032615060604612010-10-05T19:55:35.109-04:002010-10-05T19:55:35.109-04:00AVI, it was a reference to my inadvertently offend...AVI, it was a reference to my inadvertently offending someone I greatly admire and like with posts on my own blog. The specific post was one where I was describing my fury when my spouse was unemployed and we were really struggling and I would be buying cruddy groceries with our last dollars, in line behind people buying far more lavish groceries than me with food stamps. And their weight. Anyway, me and my big mouth...Retrieverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09036341287285545932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33818852.post-39577173060711973762010-10-05T17:18:47.608-04:002010-10-05T17:18:47.608-04:00Hey! What's all this talk about offending peop...Hey! What's all this talk about offending people? I never heard of such a thing.<br /><br />I think context, one's knowledge of the writer, matters greatly - in both directions. If it is a site or a commenter I don't know much about, I am likely to take general statements as blanket statements, not recognising that the writer has sometimes, or even often, been careful to note exceptions. In the other direction, if it is someone who knows me and my association with a group or opinion but makes a generalization I might think "Hey, what am I, chopped liver? He knows I, at least, am not like that."<br /><br />I find that when I write vividly and forcefully I run the risk of offense. When I don't, I run the risk of not really saying much of anything. In conversation, one can soften the blow somewhat with expression, tone, and followup comments. I have had more than one person over the years note that they have left Bible study or adult Sunday School angry at me, only to be surprised weeks or months later when the topic comes up again that I had listened to and remembered their comments and noted them with approval. I'm not sure that quite makes up for it - especially as sometimes they didn't say anything worth approving of I can pull out later.<br /><br />You offend very rarely, if at all. I have concluded you are a person willing to absorb (some?) damage rather than strike back hastily. An admirable quality.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33818852.post-83576271445247940022010-10-04T18:39:15.900-04:002010-10-04T18:39:15.900-04:00Phew! I have been inadvertently offending so many...Phew! I have been inadvertently offending so many people lately, that I had been afraid I had offended you too! Glad not to have. <br /><br />I loved this post of yours, by the way. I have been thinking about just this issue lately, ever since that post of AVI's. The ways I freak out people with my own "weird" views. "Funny, you seem nice, how could you be religious???" or more seriously when talking with my incredulous spouse and children who do not believe in the divinity of Christ and think me an ignorant, superstitious peasant because I do. ALso, the way I have that UHOH reaction when certain people I know start getting too heavily into the conspiracy theories, or talk of demonic possession or whatever. <br /><br />I do try, however, to remember that plenty of people are very charitable with me despite their view of my own strange (to them) views, so I try to set aside my feelings about some types of odd views. In particular, when I have friends who are really into summoning spirits and that kind of stuff, I will sometimes cautiously engage them and try (if they are still nominally Christian) to expose them to passages that warn about such things, or even (not very subtle) get them to watch truly horrific movies where people come to grief messing around with spirits. Whatever will get across the idea that seemingly arbitrary warnings from Jesus were given for a purpose...<br /><br />I always appreciate your posts on popular culture.Retrieverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09036341287285545932noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33818852.post-54365983536510335912010-10-04T18:31:05.213-04:002010-10-04T18:31:05.213-04:00Retriever,
No, no, no! I should have rewritten th...Retriever,<br /><br />No, no, no! I should have rewritten that part. I looked at it later and realized that it probably came off too serious towards the end. <br /><br />Your "insult" wasn't insulting to me...although I did feel an inward cringe because what you were representing in your post was about where I was several years ago.<br /><br />But...I feel that cringe a lot when I remember things I have said and done with so much certainty and flippancy.<br /><br />Aagh...too many gaffes to forget! ;-)<br /><br />I didn't mean it as a criticism of you....I just thought of how the rest of Psalm 69 is like the rest of Psalm 127....a lot of stuff that we really don't know what to do with and kind of make up, or sweep under the rug.<br /><br />When I was writing this post about our attachment to ideas and positions that phrase kept circling in my head, "the insults of those who insult you fall upon me". I couldn't remember which passage I had remembered that from....and then when I found it in the middle of one of those bloodthirsty Psalms pleading for God's wrath to fall on everyone...well it made me laugh a little.<br /><br />The sentiment in that phrase conveys a true emotion we experience...but the rest of the Psalm is over the top!<br /><br />When I referenced your post it wasn't to call you out as much as point to all the trouble that can come up from those emotional Psalms...and how trying to use the parts that inspire while not knowing what to do with the rest is kind of flabbergasting.<br /><br />I didn't do a good job expressing what I meant. I was trying to touch on too many ideas in one post.<br /><br />Sorry!terrihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12399706958844399216noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33818852.post-48234233318404456002010-10-04T18:15:59.548-04:002010-10-04T18:15:59.548-04:00Oh, dear Terri, I am sorry if I insulted you. I p...Oh, dear Terri, I am sorry if I insulted you. I probably sounded so negative about the method because the minister involved is disappointing.Retrieverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09036341287285545932noreply@blogger.com