{"id":10851,"date":"2020-07-18T23:12:20","date_gmt":"2020-07-19T03:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=10851"},"modified":"2020-07-18T23:12:25","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T03:12:25","slug":"the-other-side-of-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=10851","title":{"rendered":"the other side of me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Six weeks ago we popped the question: \u201cwhat\u2019s it like to be on the receiving end of me?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a singular post, shared under the title of \u201cThe Purpose and the Question.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the weeks have continued, my strong sense is that it would be prudent of us to ask that more than once\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s it like to be on the receiving end of me?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allow me to rephrase and push the envelope a hair further\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do I have the guts to actually ask the question?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

And do I care about the response?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Truthfully, it\u2019d probably be easier not to ask the question. If I never hear anyone suggest that they sometimes see me as angry, arrogant, bossy, boastful, careless, cruel, defensive, harsh, hypocritical, illogical, inflexible, judgmental, narrow-minded, obstinate, overcritical, patronizing, pompous, selfish, stubborn or untrustworthy, <\/em>then I never have to deal with the reality that sometimes I can be angry, arrogant, bossy, boastful, careless, cruel, defensive, harsh, hypocritical, illogical, inflexible, judgmental, narrow-minded, obstinate, overcritical, patronizing, pompous, selfish, stubborn or untrustworthy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(<\/em>And that\u2019s only the first 20 adjectives I could think of.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not an easy question; do I have the guts to ask?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which leads me to what\u2019s next\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do I care about the response?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one hand, my sense is we might say \u201cno.\u201d Such follows the logic of the fictional, crazed television anchorman Howard Beale in his iconic \u201cI’m as mad as hell and I’m not gonna take this anymore\u201d quote. But note who is the subject of his sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u201d\u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2026 me\u2026 my\u2026 myself\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we become the subject of our own sentences, we forget about the value of other people; we act as if we \u2014 me, my thoughts, beliefs and behavior\u2014 mean more. We then typically justify the demeaning of someone. And if we are justifying the demeaning of someone, we are not loving our neighbor well, we are not advocating for equality, and we are certainly not honoring the great big God of the universe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Living in a such a contentious, fractious time, it seems we become the subject of our sentences more frequently, although tribal insulation can shield us from such self awareness.  We are lured into believing that our thoughts, beliefs, and behavior are fully justified; hence, I don\u2019t have to care about how anyone responds to me\u2026<\/em> I then think of the awesome words by the great, lyrical giver of truth, Sting: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“There is no monopoly of common sense
\nOn either side of the political fence
\nWe share the same biology
\nRegardless of ideology
\nBelieve me when I say to you
\nI hope the Russians love their children too.” <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russians, Americans, Republicans, Democrats, majorities, minorities, faithful, etc., you name it\u2026 all people who at some time may be on \u201cthe other side of me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week I had to apologize to someone who means a lot to me. To be clear, such isn\u2019t an uncommon event. And since each of us have yet to walk on water \u2014 and thus we are wholeheartedly and so obviously imperfect \u2014 the process of asking and granting forgiveness should be a frequent and prudent pursuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it starts with a question\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s it like to be on the receiving end of me?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six weeks ago we popped the question: \u201cwhat\u2019s it like to be on the receiving end of me?\u201d It was a singular post, shared under the title of \u201cThe Purpose and the Question.\u201d As the weeks have continued, my strong sense is that it would be prudent of us to ask that more than once\u2026 … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “the other side of me”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10851"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10852,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10851\/revisions\/10852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}