Love, email

Kill them with Kindness?

 

RantWoman remembers a long ago protest where some of the people protesting means to make war got exasperated and made signs that said “Kill the Deathmongers.” Um, PEOPLE?

 

RantWoman has been meditating on the This I Believe series in Adult Education at her Meeting. RantWoman does not generally have a God as Personal Butler model of divine presence, but does have a sense of being loved by God, of others being loved by God, and of seeking paths of Love.

 

 RantWoman believes in a versatile god who gets things done lots of ways. RantWoman’s Divine presence likes to be venerated and is not too picky about the forms of veneration except that it is preferable that people not kill each other in the process of figuring out veneration or anything else like living together, traffic, technology, gardening, setting up chairs so they don’t increase the odds that someone will trip over them… Oh wait, the chairs get their own post.

 

Anyway, kill them with kindness is probably not quite the meme either.

 

The Still Didn’t get the Memo committee on Email Immoderation is holding in the Light two threads of community conversation. RantWoman keeps asking God what to do and God’s response seems to be, “um, RantWoman, you are not doing so well so maybe can you let me handle it for awhile? You are dealing with people who while not experience the coping capacity generation tumults of blindness, nevertheless have other reservoirs of coping capacity that can be drawn in.Think getting back up on the horse. Think which experiments can we try not to repeat? ”

 

One Friend has offered the suggested Nom De Blog Prefers Email Friend. RantWoman does not quite know what to make of that preference. Sometimes RantWoman would actually wish to say THANK YOU. But RantWoman’s  inbox also contains a sequence of growling emails. One exchange awhile ago prompted RantWoman simply to offer to hold in the Light. RantWoman would characterize the response as growling. Recently RantWoman received in response basically to a please hold in the Light request sent to many people as a reply/all with changed subject line email that just said in all caps “PLEASE DO NOT EMAIL ME.” RantWoman keeps wondering how that is supposed to work considering other hats that Prefers Email Friend wears.

 

RantWoman is finding herself seasoning the call to say, “Friend, at this point if you need to have a temper tantrum, is there someone you would like to sit here with you to hold space and hold you in the Light?  RantWoman can probably do it, but if there is someone you would rather…,.” RantWoman is unclear how this offer would be received. If it is received badly, RantWoman is at the point of just saying “Friend, Take it up with God!”

 

The other thread has to do with Reply/All and how it propagates discomfort. RantWoman understands a clear Owww. RantWoman has stated two points of view about the topic: On one hand, for some moments of community life, RantWoman finds reply/all extremely valuable in nurturing community. On the other hand, RantWoman hears some clear Owwws. RantWoman is willing to do the best she can to TRY to avoid future ows but can never ever promise she will not get triggered beyond what she has learned to recognize or lose her temper, RantWoman knows that owws sometimes subside over time for various reasons. RantWoman is also annoyed by a response from one spectator to an apology and RantWoman is seasoning whether to tell Spectator Friend to Take it Up With God too. But Spectator Friend gets further Light in the pending Chairs reflection.

 

Um, okay God, um…?

 

In Light and Faithfulness.

 

RantWoman