Don’t Perspire the Small Stuff

You all know that I don’t write about controversial stuff very much. Partly because the most controversial topics are often “the small stuff,” not worth perspiring about. And partly because I hope to live many more years and I reserve the right to change my mind after more life experience. I don’t want to change it in front of the whole internet.

So since we’re not talking about particular controversies, let’s ponder controversy in general. The bloggy-kind, not deep life and death stuff.

The internet has lots of opinions, I suppose on just about every topic. Most of us couch our opinions carefully when we speak face-to-face, but typing and reading are a lot less confrontational and, incidentally, allow us to sound more authoritative than we really are. Sometimes I catch myself wondering why I don’t know such knowledgeable people in real life, but I do. They just phrase their opinions more cautiously, and I also happen to know their personalities and frailties.

That’s not all bad. The goal in human relations isn’t to find the fatal flaw in each person so as to make us feel better about our own flaws. Seeing the strengths of each other is good. It pushes us on to higher heights (at least, it should) and starves our critical spirits.

But there are downsides. We don’t have to deal with people’s differences with humility, teachableness, and love. We can just click to the next blog.

Nor do we have the advantage of seeing opinions worked out into every day life. For instance, brides get lots of marital advice. I learned that last year. But watching how the advice-givers actually interacted with their husbands helped me (I hope) discern between good and bad counsel. I’m not as likely to follow the suggestions of a woman who consistently manipulates her husband and has a tense marriage, am I? But the internet doesn’t allow us to discern the preaching by watching the living, which is a definite downside to my blog and every other blog.

And finally, we miss out on the balance that interacting with different views provides. For a popular example in the blog realm: food. In a typical society group — church, club, or neighborhood — there is a broad range of eating habits. One family eats Taco Bell when they’re in a hurry. Another family passes by Taco Bell for a more authentic flavor. And another family eats only organic vegan tacos. In real life, we’d have fellowship outside those preferences and in the process, realize that our eating habits are only temporal. Small stuff.

But the internet allows us to form close relationships with people just like us. That’s cool. Sticking with our example, it allows the trading of technique, recipes, and encouragement. But it also insulates us, perhaps even influences us to become more opinionated and to attach more importance to small stuff because we’re not interacting with those who have different views. And somehow, we begin to get small stuff confused with being a good wife/mother/friend, godliness, or walking with God. Still thinking about our food example, Scripture’s main concern regarding food is that it not be a hindrance to fellowship, but it is easy to forget that when we fellowship around food.

Blogs are a valuable part of my life, especially living in a new state without many acquaintances, but I have to keep in mind that the internet can’t replace real life interactions and that most of it is small stuff. Don’t sweat it.