I’ve said a lot of things over the last few years as a boy mom that I never thought I’d ever say, most of them pertaining to the sudden bursts of energy, the fighting instincts and randomness that all creep in at the worst possible moments. This week’s favorite hero is Captain America, and this kid is just living the dream in his super suit and saving the world one lego at a time. At one point, things got a little crazier than they should have and before I knew it I was yelling, “THAT’S IT! Take off the mask, and put the shield down!!!!” so then once everyone was settled again we finally had some peace for the rest of the afternoon, and they resumed their happy little lives in whatever bliss they imagined.
Those words have been echoing in my mind ever since. How many times do we have to go through the crazy things in life, fighting them over and over and over again, when we haven’t even tried being real about it? We have an issue with someone, and instead of talking about it like adults, we just hold up our shield and go all Spartan on each other first without a second thought. But why do we do it? I guess it’s sort of a self-preservation mode, a way to cushion the blows so we don’t feel them. But if both sides could take off the mask and put the shield down, the secrets wouldn’t destroy us because they wouldn’t be there.
I have so many WTF moments it’s not even funny. Right now, there is such chaos happening in our country, let alone the world and most people can’t even get past the issues right in front of them, but we expect everyone else to do the right thing. How hypocritical is that?
On another note. Let’s talk about going out in public. I mean, wear a mask or don’t wear a mask (the literal masks, because covid…) but PLEASE don’t insult my intelligence with your stupidity if you are going to get on a high horse about how your way is better. Honestly it’s almost more appealing to never see another person again and just hunker down at home with everyone losing their head over the littlest things. But oh, I guess if you are staying home you might be “paranoid….” Seriously, people, make up your minds. Just be smart about things, take care of yourself and the fam, don’t pick your boogers (or eat them) and let’s all remember to brush our teeth even though we aren’t going within six feet of each other. Because, hygiene, of course. Who cares if little Jimmy is wearing socks with his flip flops or even that he’s wearing flip flops in the winter!
Relationships are hard. People say things they don’t mean, they do things that hurt each other and they lie, cheat and steal from each other. Usually these are all done behind some kind of falsehood. Sometimes it’s to hide behind who they really are or what they really think, because the truth scares them and they don’t want to be left alone. Sometimes it’s pride, because we think we know what is best even though someone else might actually have a better answer or idea, but we wanted it to be our idea so we shut down any others out of selfishness. Sometimes reality sinks in and we start to see that we didn’t really have it all together and we made so many mistakes in the past, but instead of cheering on the next generation and encouraging them to thrive, we are dwelling on their failures to hold them back so they can’t do something better with their life and their future. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Cool your jets… even the Bible has something to say about it and it’s a good truth to live by.
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9 NKJV
Seriously, we all need to figure out what is more important. Some of us just live to fight another day, and love everything about the war- the adrenaline rush, the fight, the armor, the weapons…forgetting that the bloodshed is sometimes a higher cost than we were willing to pay. The real warriors are the ones who can live to fight without loving the cost, and who can appreciate the sacrifice of the ones who give everything when they have to. The ones who know how and when the time is right to take off the mask and put the shield down.
