How Rude Of Me

A thought occurred to me this week. Whether it was an intentional thought, or a random notion which surfaces once every neurochemical cycle, it prompted me to want write it down before, like many ramblings of mine, it became lost in the abyss of the ever synaptic destabilization that is my middle-aged consciousness. I have had more thoughts through the years than I have recorded to be sure. So once again, I pound the keys on this laptop with some sense of purpose and story.

Have you noticed society is getting ruder? At first, I presumed it was just me. After all, the term ‘rude’ is a generalized word subject to the interpretation of the person on the receiving end, right? Whatever culture accepts as the norm becomes the norm over time. The complexities of ‘what is rude’ could be debated by a room full of lawyers until their court fees rivaled the national debt. Like many issues today, there is no right answer. If you like simple answers, the term simply stated is this: being unkind or inconsiderate of other’s around you. If you grew up the way I did, it’s how your mamma taught you NOT to act. Ignoring this code of conduct is why your daddy’s belt came flying through the loops like a gladiator’s saber.

Rude hurt.

 Now to put some cohesion to this thought I mentioned earlier. Rudeness grows among the thorns and thistles where Love is absent. Because love doesn’t mean what it used to, rudeness is a non-indigenous vine left to snake undeterred through the garden of humanity. Nowadays, love means that I get something. Love is fifty-fifty. Love has become, “If you love me, you will do it my way.” We saw it coming, but we did nothing about it. We stopped punishing rude and we are now left with the fruit it has produced. Because a new definition of love rules our land, the Love that produces the good seed is hard to find. The kind of Love that takes its place at the end of the line so that others can go first is a rare breed indeed. This is what it looks like: Love is patient, Love is kind. It does not envy, it doesn't boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps not record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails... I Corinthians 13: 4-8

I cannot pretend that I haven’t been changed by simply living alongside Rude. There are people in my life that can point you to moments of my own rudeness. You probably remember your darkest moments as well. But we do live here. This is our world. Because of the nature of the fall, we live among the consequence. That doesn’t mean Love no longer has a place here. Just the opposite is true. If rude is gaining a foothold, it stands the more pressing reason that Love cannot be silenced.

Our world dives headlong into challenges of humanity and throws money and resources at societal ills and never gives Love a second thought. Perhaps it doesn’t because Love always requires a sacrifice. The real kind of Love, gives with no mention of return.

Love is a vulnerable place to be. It is uncomfortable. It can be the source of much pain and many tears. But it can also turn the heart of a taker into a giver. It can turn the wrath of a tyrant into the favor of a king. What is given away in the name of Love carries more value than a taker’s mind can ever imagine or comprehend. Stepping over the threshold and loving something or someone with no promise of gain is the mark of a fool by many. If you dare to be branded a fool, that is the first of many sacrifices of this powerful, life-changing, event-altering grace called Love.