Idiosyncrasies

I'm not sure the frequency at which I will continue blogging, or if I will discontinue blogging altogether eventually. For now I'll keep posting at a leisurely rate, and then I'll go from there. Today I have a personal reflection.

Throughout much of my life I have been made fun of for and made to feel guilty about my many quirks and faults, from the most benevolent ribbing, to a semi-benevolent but haughty and paternalistic criticism, to outright malicious mockery. Because of this, I have a sensitive spot to the slightest hint of condescension or less-than-friendly banter that I generally freely admit. I will often either react by buying into and believing other people's false or skewed perceptions of me, or I will dig in my heels and get angry about it. I get angry because everybody has faults and quirks, it doesn't matter how holy or righteous you are (and I am not speaking so much of wickedness here, but more of smaller character flaws). Faults and quirks are just imperfections or strangeness of behavior that require a little grace from others to cope with. Some of them perhaps we can and ought to change over time, others are just part of who we are. But the bottom line is that we all have them, and unless they unreasonably impinge upon our lives or the lives of others, I think Christian charity should extend to them without us acting as though we are above such quirks or that people are beyond-the-pale imbeciles for having them (actually, Christian charity should always be extended, but it also should not indulge bad habits). This means that we should delight in bending a bit to fill in the gaps left by someone's quirk or fault. Perhaps when the time is right and our attitude pure, we should graciously suggest that it would be good for a person to get over some fault, especially if we perceive it to be something that begins to press uncomfortably upon that person's or other person's lives. And of course we may still be wrong in this perception, for righteous judgments of others are notoriously difficult for us. Other times we should realize that our quirks are just how God made us and that we ought to love people for that reason without forcing them to be what we wrongly consider "better." But it is never right to act as though we are above such behavior or make people feel like they are beyond the pale for having some odd but largely inculpable and harmless idiosyncrasy - actually, we shouldn't make someone feel like they are below us ever, for their eternal value never changes and is never greater than ours. I am not above the kind of downward-looking criticism that I criticize here; I have my own pride to battle, and I am submitting to the cleansing work of the Spirit to help me be more gracious with others. This is just a reminder to all of us - me included - that we need to be more gracious to those who we perceive to have weird behavior patterns, even if we think that person ought to change. Bear with one another's faults, and address them if perceived to be necessary with gentleness and humility. Such humility is the only proper attitude when we consider the universal reality of human faults and quirks.

But of course, friendly banter is always welcome =)