People are

 

I have frequently been accused of being “too sensitive.” And these recent months have spotlighted that sensitivity, in the macro and in the micro.

So, yeah, reader discretion advised: I will be going on a “too sensitive” rant.

Within the past weeks, especially after George Floyd’s brutal murder, as protests and riots were in full force, I was in a conversation with someone who made the statement, “People are soft.” As I was a Minnesotan, this person was curious about my perspective as “the land of 10,000 lakes” had now received global attention for ugly reasons.

My perspective? Well, the devastating circumstances shocked and hurt me.

But that casual statement about the circumstances also shocked and hurt me. For, with it, I felt a dismissive slap for anyone in pain, especially compounded by the pandemic and unrest.

Yes, pain is now the baseline for us. Covid-19, the protests, and the riots of this excruciating 2020 have amplified that reality.

As I am both a person of faith and a person grappling with an addictive brain, Romans 14:21 has been a guidepost and a sensitive reminder of vulnerability’s presence, regardless of life and world circumstances.

“It is good not to… do anything that causes your brother to stumble.”

Causing your brother to stumble…

Saying things like, “People are soft…”

Maybe not intentionally done, but, really, there is damage done, all the same.

I started slowly going over those three words…

People…are… soft…

It first hit me as an odd thing to say. There was no mention of “It’s horrible. It’s terrifying.” Just that blanket statement, judging peoples’ reactions to painful, uncertain, and scary times. I started thinking about, perhaps, some sister statements, often employed to motivate within the areas of fitness and work goals…

“Discipline is remembering what you want.”

“Go hard or go home.”

“Buck up! Man up! Woman Up!” (And all versions of “Up,” adding a particular individual, for emphasis)

I’m all for motivation, self-improvement, and goalsetting, but, maybe, it should not come at the expense of compassion. We’ve heard numerous news stories about how peoples’ lives are disrupted, routines are shattered. It’s hard to just “work out,” or “stay on task.”

We are all trying to find our equilibrium, within a context that is unfamiliar, intimidating, and yes, life threatening.

Our very lives- every facet of them- are threatened now.

Directly. Indirectly. Daily. Macro. Micro.

Before the events of 2020 got underway, it was easier for us to do routine. How many of us were complacent? We got used to convenience. So, yes, maybe we did “get soft.”

But now, we are forced to think in present-day and future filters. What will they both look like for each of us? Quarantine? Hospitalization? Sickness? Death? Change?

Oh, yes, change is there in a frightful way.

So, maybe now is not the time for gung-ho slogans and the “Buck up” culture. People are not soft.

People are…

…heartbroken, as they have lost loved ones to racism and to the pandemic…

…filled with dread as they, themselves, face the threat of the virus and/or another life-threatening condition, like cancer…

…dying alone in hospitals, on ventilators…

…anxious about their unemployment benefits running out…

…scrambling to make this month’s rent or mortgage…

…coping, to the best of their ability, as they face the “essential worker” reality for themselves. They either take their own lives into their own hands, on a daily basis, or they send a loved one out in the world to do the same…

…feel powerless, as they know their skin color can get them killed, at any time, in any place, for anything…

…besieged with anxiety, depression, addiction, and domestic violence, exacerbated by this “world on fire” in every direction…

The list goes on, as unique and heartbreaking as the individual holding the worries and the tears.

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue...”

Proverbs 18:21 further supports the caution against making our fellow human beings stumble. We can do that with words. We can do it with judgments and attitudes. It’s not just vices; it’s not just actions that create the damage. It can be the most cavalier thought or word, just tossed “off the cuff.”

But, to the person sensitive to his/her unique pain and torment, it inflicts further injury that needs not to be there. Especially now.

What’s wrong with being a bit “more sensitive” now?

People are not soft. People are the collective us. We need to lovingly treat ourselves as such.

Copyright © 2021 by Sheryle Cruse