Post from July 14, 2023

“👟 RSD 1172 ✅ Today’s Verse: “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.”— Romans 12:17

The Message Translation groups verses 17-19: “Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do. ‘I’ll do the judging,’ says God. ‘I’ll take care of it.’”
Amplified Bible (Classic Edition) groups verses 16-18: “Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is honest and proper and noble [aiming to be above reproach] in the sight of everyone.”

Do you ever go back for something? You know, you realize you’ve left your sunglasses at your table at the restaurant and have to turn the car around and go back for them? You leave work and realize that that thing probably should be prepped before tomorrow, so you go back into your office (or classroom 😬) to retrieve the materials? Or, you fall asleep on the couch and wake up at 2 a.m. to write the day’s reflection 😅? I ran today’s run at 9:30 this morning and had a full (and good) day thereafter. With any of these, it’s not that you’ve forgotten (it’s important and you’ve thought about it all day or you set your sunglasses down where you could see them or you thought your after-work (or school) take-home things were complete, so you have to remedy the situation): in one form or another, you have to turn the car around. Everybody has something like that, those things that you make time for, even if it’s going back and doing it. It’s a good thing, really—I mean, you get the things done, and they’re done well. But, what if sometimes it’s not such a good thing? What if the thing you go back for isn’t good, and yet—you’re going to go back for it anyway. You’re like, “Why would I got back for some unfavorable situation? That’s dumb.” You sure? Because going back for the unfavorable and making sure we make time for it is an area wherein which we excel as human beings.

What’s that unfavorable thing we go after? Repayment, but not the kind where your friend paid for dinner cause the server didn’t split the check (and y’all weren’t going to ask him to go back), so you Venmo your friend the cost of yours (plus tip!). Yeah, we do that kind of repayment, but that’s not the kind I’m talking about. Repayment of a different sort. Repayment for hurt can look like different things. Repayment for greed. Repayment for betrayal. Repayment for disappointment. Repayment for anger. You know that repayment, and you’ve done it—we all have. Repayment for wrongs—making things even, so to speak, but that’s just us dressing up what it’s really called: revenge.

From Google/Oxford revenge is, “the action of inflicting hurt or harm on someone for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands.” There’s an old proverb that insists that it’s “a dish best served cold”—I had thought I heard it as part of a James Bond movie, but I think it’s actually in one of the Star Treks, and it’s originally from the 1800s anyway. Sage advice, right? I did a project in the 6th grade on the Code of Hammurabi. Basically, it’s one of the first written sets of laws in the history of human civilization. Hammurabi ruled Mesopotamia—you know, on the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers…one of the things you remember from school, and I remember thinking that some the laws seemed a little harsh. I don’t know all of them, and I’ll spare you one of my trips to Google, but the whole “eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” thing came from the Hammurabi (Hammurabic?) Code. First of all, why were all these people purposely knocking out eyes and teeth? It seems like an oddly specific rule for it to be a rare occurrence…and also seems kind of high-traffic for that sort of problem. Ever heard of a hobby? I hear the Euphrates is lovely this time of year—go invent rafting or something. My thing is: what if the tooth thing really was an accident? Some ancient form of hockey maybe? Hey, you don’t know for sure they weren’t playing hockey…it’s not the kind of thing you can carbon date…maybe it just didn’t get painted on the pottery cause they were all bad at it—hence, the tooth thing. The laws were harsh in that intention didn’t seem to matter—I mean, you did have to prove the person did it…sort of, but even in a hockey accident, someone else was probably going to lose a tooth. This kind quid pro quo (more like tit for tat) system seems like it takes up a lot of time just injuring people, and that eye thing really is gross. Pacifist Mahatma Gandhi (I initially put the h in the wrong spot but can get Kardashian on the first try…and that’s probably what’s wrong with society)—anyway Gandhi advised the world that “an eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind”…basically that all this time making sure you remembered to chill that revenge in the refrigerator before serving it cold to your “enemy” is likely better spent on other things. And, you know who beat Gandhi to this sage advice (like, wayyyy before)? God. He also thinks our time is better spent doing other things.

So, maybe we’re not doing all the gross stuff we read about in ancient civilizations, and most of us are not ruling nations and declaring war, so it seems this all doesn’t really apply to us. Weeeelllllll…here’s the thing: we all have a little Hammurabi in us where we want things to be even…well, even for us…you know wink wink even, but, to most people in quarrelsome situations, “even” is more like odd (as in +1 in our favor). Yeah, we don’t have as much of this eye and tooth stuff (y’all, Google the rest: these people were wildin’) going on, but we do have less overt injuries being exacted upon each other. As kids, your sibling hit you, so you hit them back, twice…the “don’t tell Mom” payment is included in the second hit. You’re in middle school and that girl who’s always rude makes up a rumor about you, so you return the favor, but somehow it also makes you look bad. You’re in adulthood, and your friend wronged you, so you make sure all your friends and acquaintances know it, plus some extra stuff (that you’ve already had the apology/forgiven combo for a while ago, yet still bring up to everyone…so, did you really forgive?). And, maybe you went too far “evening things out.” Why did you do that? Because you’re hurt and don’t want people to like that person. Maybe you want them to hurt too. Suddenly, it’s not such a good look, huh? The problem you have now (pragmatically) is this: maybe you’ve repaid a little more than what was paid to you, so what if they think the same way you did? The problem you have now (including more abstract things like love and friendship) is this: how do y’all come back from this? Or, you might be thinking, “Who cares? I have this situation with someone I don’t even like.” Ok, fine. How is that “even +1” thing working out for you? Are you tired? Cause that takes a lot of energy. So, for perspective, let me put it this way: what if God did that whole injury (even +1) thing every time we messed up against Him? I mean, He didn’t do anything wrong to us…so fair’s fair, right?

The fact that God doesn’t do that with us should be all the context we need as to how to act when we’re faced with complicated situations. God sent Jesus to pay for all of our wrongs, so that really says it all. Today’s verse (plus some of the verses around it) let us know that we need to do our best by people and that plotting revenge isn’t part of that lifestyle…emphasis on the “life” part. See, revenge makes us party to the whole Hammurabi Code thing. I glossed over the details, but there’s a whole lot of death in that code (the “eye for an eye” thing is actually pretty tame compared to other parts). Plainly stated, plotting revenge doesn’t promote life. Even if you don’t think you’re “plotting,” allowing the anger and hurt from the wrong someone has done to you to constantly live rent-free in your head doesn’t leave much room for your own life to flourish. If those aspects are living there rent-free, then aspects such as growth and compassion and dreams and possibility and gratitude and empathy and love don’t have room…I mean, the apartment’s only so big, right? God tells us He’ll deal with people stepping out, being difficult, and that can happen in a variety of ways…including softening their hearts and letting them learn something…you know, things we don’t notice and might never “see.” For people who are truly evil, He’ll deal with that too. But, as we’ve observed, most people aren’t horrible: most people just mess up. Yeah, they’re selfish or greedy or…hurt. The point: it’s not our business. “Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do.”

So, what do we do? We do us. “Don’t hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get along with everybody.” You don’t have to keep that person around who continuously wrongs you (God doesn’t want that for us either), but you do have to respect their existence. Matthew 5:44 tells us to “Love [our] enemies and pray for those who persecute [us].” I think, more than anything, God knows we have limited understanding of other people, but also have limited understanding of ourselves. It’s the “only so much room in the apartment” thing: we can only concentrate on so much. So, why spend our brain cells on judging the actions of people who are…well, not us? We know good and well that we can barely judge our own. God wants us to concentrate on the plan for us, both on the good things found in our path that breathe life into us and on the difficulties and obstacles we trip over in our path that allow God to catch us (hey, that pothole came out of nowhere) and also allow us to grow in our faith by trusting God to be there to catch us. None of these has anything to do with other people “acting a fool.” You forgive and move forward…easier said than done, but that’s the goal. There’s this popular “bumper sticker” type phrase I’ve seen floating around that’s actually some solid advice. “You can’t throw stones if you’re busy washing feet.” Washing feet—helping people, serving, loving, being compassionate and forgiving, being hospitable (cause we’re all just sharing this world together), cutting some slack (cause we know it’s been done for us). That’s the goal, right? So, on going back for something—if it’s something physical like sunglasses or lesson plans, ok. If it’s something intangible—something good that you’ve been thinking of all day and going back to it when you have the time to spend with it (your TV show or your book or your workout or your Bible study)—go back for it. If it’s something intangible that isn’t so good—you know, you get distracted from it during the day when you’re busy (and feel better when you do), and when you make yourself remember (and you seem to have to put effort into thinking of it…and it hurts when you do)—well, maybe there’s a reason you forgot to “even out” that situation, maybe there’s a reason going back for it seems to be a lot of trouble…like the car just doesn’t want to go back…you keep making “wrong turns” when headed back, and the trip back is just…a lot of trouble…maybe because that’s all it is: trouble. And, God knows that trouble is too heavy for us to carry, and it makes our hands too full to hold anything else.

Today’s photo was a nice surprise from Nike—I’ve run further before, but it’s been in multiple runs with some rest in between. No rest between today, though. Build positive. 💪🏻”