Truth gets a bad rap these days. The notion that something can be true rather than relative gets all wrapped up in our ethnic and cultural differences and ongoing power struggles about who has the right to tell whom what is or is not right or wrong. That’s cool. I get it. We can be in relationship and share our beliefs without imposing our politics, culture, faith, morals on one another. Live and let live.
But I sometimes think that we’ve taken live and let live a little too far. So far, in fact, that we have become crippled – or at least injured – in our ability to consistently help one another to press forward in an increasingly hectic and challenging culture. Too often, we watch our friends, family, neighbors and strangers walk blindly toward the edge of one bottomless pit or another and, in the spirit of live and let live, we say nothing. Even worse, we sometimes say nothing to the person, but share the information with others out (at best) feigned concern and (at worst) malicious gossip.
This exchange I had on Facebook yesterday illustrates my thinking…
Joan Ball Amazed at the power of truth shared with kindness in love. Sheds light on lies we tell ourselves, paving the way for genuine transformation.
Leanne Burger Mestel, Dary Politoski, Carolyn Ryberg and 3 others like this.
Teresa Ortiz at 11:46am June 9
Amen to this!!
Andrea Gross Colman at 1:58pm June 9
don’t I know it!
Sharon Linnea at 2:06pm June 9
sounds exhausting.
Joan Ball at 2:45pm June 9
Funny you mention that Sharon – I am in the midst of writing a piece on why so few people actually do it and the personal investment involved in investing in others is one of the reasons…
Sharon Linnea at 4:01pm June 9
😉 I also find that I was much surer of what was wrong with other people when I was younger…
Joan Ball at 4:15pm June 9
Same here Sharon. That’s the fine line between sharing a truthful observation (i.e. “there is hope beyond the addiction” or “there is help out there for your child that is self-harming”) and judgement (i.e. “you shouldn’t act that way or do that thing”). I’m wondering if the boundary has become so blurred that many of us find it safer to just look straight ahead and take care of ourselves rather than take the risk of trying to help those in obvious need.
Sharon Linnea at 4:26pm June 9
a great topic. i think i DO see a lot of people putting themselves out there…the problem is, it often means you’ve got to get involved deeply in the lives of people who aren’t necessarily your best friends, and commit to staying involved. that’s the exhausting part.
What do you think? Do you put yourself out there or does sharing these kinds of observations seem like butting in?
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