Tuesday, September 20, 2016

The Keyboard Warrior's Creed

** A disclaimer to begin this post. I have had several individuals in recent weeks tell me they were concerned about their interactions on social media. I was glad to hear it. It let me know that I was not alone. One of them shared the first picture below. Thanks, guys, for being honest.


Something happened last week that has intermittently plagued my mind since. I was interacting with a Facebook group (one on which I am mostly a "lurker") and found myself engaging the entire group with a question. The question was valid, but I had the misfortune of posting it directly under a post made by an elder that I highly respect. I fretted about it for a long while. I knew what I had meant. But the people on the other side of the screen were now free to interpret that comment in any frame of reference that THEY SAW FIT.

I clarified my meaning, both on that thread, and then via direct message to the man I was afraid I had offended. He assured me all was fine, but it got me thinking.

I read comments on Facebook and on other social media outlets all the time that make me scratch my head. 
I would like to reply and defend some folks. I would like to reply and set the record straight in other cases. I would like to be able to delete some folks' threads. Seriously! (Admit it, so would you!)

And I had an epiphany... I don't want people to feel that way about my social media interactions with them. So out of that moment, and through others that I have both seen and experienced, this evolved:


The Keyboard Warrior's Creed

I saw the post, it *caught my eye, so in haste I clicked reply.
And stupidly wrote out my thoughts, "I am so wise", thought I. 
I hit the button and watched it go and slapped my back with pride.
I set them straight, I smacked 'em good, I wouldn't let it slide. 

Around the world somebody saw the words that I had said.
They saw no wisdom, read no wit, just sadly shook their head. 
And realized the answer to the Facebook bully's gall;
Is mostly just to hit "Mute Thread" and say nothing at all. 

In pity they avoid response, to help me "not look bad",
But if we're more than Facebook friends, I know that they were sad.
'Cause I thought I had been so bright, I saw myself as keen.
While everybody else just saw a goof behind a screen. 

Oh, why the desperate need I feel, to always have a say.
To offer my opinion -- to correct, persuade, disdain?
Is it not true, as Grampa said, that sleeping dogs should lie?
So why go stirring trouble up, just let it idle by?

Today I'll fill my feed with good and try with all my might,
To guard my thoughts, my words, my texts -- I need to get it right. 
I will beware of idle words, I'll go the extra mile,
To bless the "friends" upon my page and leave them with a smile.

* * * * *

*codephrase for ** "worked me up"
** which is codephrase for *** "made me mad"
*** sometimes.



Friday, July 22, 2016

The Lord Reigns

Psalm 97:1 - "The Lord reigneth..."
To reign is to rule as a "sovreign"; to have the ultimate say. While modern kings no longer possess this power, the author of these words was making public the brilliant claim that brought peace and stability to his entire world.
The circumstances in which the words were uttered are made totally irrelevant by the statement itself. "The Lord reigneth." HE has the final word!
Today, that is enough for me.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

Worth Repeating 7.16.16

"Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persucuted whenever I am contradicted." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sunday, February 7, 2016

The White Elephant



It’s there in the corner, it’s bulk hard to miss,
It’s hard facts and gossip, things hard to dismiss.

With friends or with strangers, it sits there so still,
And can kill conversation like nothing else will.

In the brightest of sunlight it’s shadow is there,
It even crowds in when I’m kneeling for prayer.

Conversation grows stilted when it is addressed,
Laughter chokes off and smiles grow distressed.

It separates family and friends with it’s ire,
But we all can agree that it needs to retire.

The elephant, they call him, his color is white,
He represents all that we can’t say or write.

So the word for each one who is tired of the dance,
Is here's what you do if you're given the chance.

Grab the big beast ‘fore ambition grows stale,
Pull him into the light by his trunk or his tail.

Don’t let your bygones control your today,
And don’t let your past drive you out of your way.

When bitterness dies and right words have been said,
Only then can we know that the elephant’s dead.

~ JH

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Replaced by a Boy

REPLACED BY A BOY

Goliath cried out for many a day
Just give me man to fight
And every man present ran into his tent
And hid from the terrible sight.
For the shield was huge and the sword was sharp
And the armour, a sight to behold
His words and his size and the look in his eyes
Made every man’s blood run cold.

More vile by the day as he laughed at their fear
He barked like a dog gone mad
’Til onto the field with indignant surprise
Stepped a humble, courageous lad.

With wild beating heart and a sling in his hand
Plus a stone that he found by the brook
He ran straight to the fray with only his God
And nary a backward look.

The cry of the giant, the words that he spoke
His affront to the men was uncouth
But the only one brave enough to take a stand
Wasn’t even a man, but a youth.

He turned down the armour of cowardly kings
And to those who had failed to deploy
He said, If God can’t find a man who will go
I guess he will just use a boy.

So grown men cowered and scrounged for excuse
And were scared of the giant’s guffaws
’Til God stepped past men and discovered a boy
Who would recognize “There is a Cause.”

So if we aspire to be men of God
And we seek to avoid all disgrace
Then we must determine to fight for the right
And not let a boy take our place.

~ JH

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Worth Repeating


"The real test of being in the presence of God is, that you either forget about yourself altogether or you see yourself as a small, dirty object."
~ C.S. Lewis

Monday, April 20, 2015

Worth Repeating


"The cost of living your dream should never be at the price of your soul."
~ Ronald LaCombe