Tangled up on our opinions

PART 1. See also Tangled up in our opinions, Part 2

This is the subject of a Good News for Today video:

When we get negative and critical and have to tell everyone, we are worshipping our opinions. And it’s so easy to get caught up in it.

Listening to others having a go about something that has outraged them, seems to give us permission to do the same.

Of course we should call out injustices, and work to constructively confront things which are not going right.

In the early days of lockdown, selfish panic buying led to shortages, and members of my family, working long hospital shifts, found it difficult to get shopping because theinfrequent times they could get to a supermarket were often not times when they had restocked.
Something had to be done… and after noting the most constructive of their suggestion letters, many firms introduced a priority time or fast track access for clinicians and carers.

Most supermarkets were able to step up home deliveries, but older and more vulnerable people, told that they needed to isolate, did not find it easy to get a delivery slot. A bit of badgering secured a priority scheme for those that needed deliveries the most, and as hoc car park ‘click and collect’ provided another avenue and set of slots for people to get supplies without physical contact.

There are always some naysayers and a tiny minority of people have persisted in refusing to believe the truth behind the rise in infections. That had added to incidences of serious illness for some and great pressure on hospital beds and intensive facilities.

Rather than finding a balance in the published media, printed or broadcast, a few ‘did their own research’ on web sites whose provenance was not stated, checked or challenged. It wasn’t difficult to find footage of empty corridors because visiting and all non-essential movements had been stopped. Those that expressed their ‘human right’ not to wear a mask in public place were thinking about themselves, not others — and seeking out others to support their opinion.

Here’s a word from the Bible, centuries-old wisdom that is clear and relevant for today:

If you walk with the mockers you will learn to mock, but God’s grace and favour flow to the meek.
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3:34‬ ‭TPT‬‬