I have only heard my mother cuss twice in my entire life. Once was when my brothers and I were arguing in the living room. I remember where I was sitting, I remember I was early teens, I remember she kept telling us to stop and we wouldn’t… but I cannot remember what we were arguing about.
She yelled “Stop fighting!” followed by another form of ‘darn it’ and we were so shocked, my brothers and I sat in silence for some time after my mom left the room. To her, it didn’t matter why we were fighting, she just wanted peace.
Yesterday, I followed my typical routine of reaching out to a couple of friends when someone hurt my feelings. I have a bad habit of needing to be validated for the way I am feeling, which is so ridiculous – we feel what we feel. No one can force us to feel a certain way. I’ve always presented situations to a friend or two, asking if they think I should be mad/glad/sad. While it is good to have someone ‘balance’ us out by presenting different perspectives, most of the time, it is healthiest to just let it go. I was reminded of this as I read Zechariah 7:9-10:
"This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.'
If we expect God to show us mercy and compassion so our hearts can be at peace, we have to show others the same mercy and compassion. Peace.