We live in a society that is intent on tearing others down. All the time!

News outlets, especially the MSM (mainstream media), social organizations, corporate “communities” to name a few, are more than willing to “first” deliver a negative word that leaves us shaking in our shoes. At least trembling in the lower portion of our emotional ‘gut‘. It appears to have gone out of style to “build other’s up“.

From a journalistic perspective; positive, heartwarming ‘stuff’ doesn’t sell. Or so they say. And there’s much truth to that viewpoint. ‘Sensational’ sells & often ‘sensational’ is salacious!

There was, of course, last week’s miracle ‘ditch’ in the Hudson River by an awesome pilot with not one loss of life. But stories such as this are few & far between and not the usual fare the media outlets (no matter their call letters) dish out.

One expects such antics from players on the big field. But what when it comes at the hands of those who are in our inner circle. Our church ‘family‘? The social or business organizations to which we belong and ‘hang out‘? Those with whom we do business on a regular basis and purport to be anything but what they are ‘at heart‘?

If the MSM, Hollywood and the “big players” can take us down a dejection road; think of how much more devastating it is when those we know and have come to trust (or thought we could) do anything but “build us up!”

Having said all that - how do we “build each other up“? How do we go about our daily lives being a ‘servant’ who enriches, encourages, equips others in such a way that they are more fully empowered for having come to know us? And we - them!

Well I suggest we become “pollyannas“. Women who determine to look before we leap with our lips & pause before we “let fly” with a ‘sour’ word that is anything but an upbuilder. That doesn’t mean we bury our heads in the sand or “fake it to make it“!

It simply means that we give our hearts to being such a resource rather than a continual perveyor of negative ‘garbage‘. Even when we have those feelings - about matters or persons at hand - we search for how to say such with an attitude of “speaking the truth in love“.

We hear that phrase all the time, especially in religious circles. Religious circles of all variations. But no one really explains it well. More importantly, no one seems to tell us how to do it. I’m not sure I know how to do it.

One of the multitude of valuable lessons I learned from my dear friend & spiritual mentor, Paul, was how to speak what might be a less than happy word to hear, to another. If he thought his words to me might be “bitter to the taste” - he always prefaced it with the following:

“Linda, I don’t mean to offend or hurt you, and please know that what I say, I say with all the love I have for you as a woman of God“. Then he would proceed with what he felt needed to be said. He NEVER hurt or offended me with the “tough stuff” he often had to deliver.

In fact, I don’t remember a time when he didn’t “build me up” or “lift me up” even when the words were less than “pollyannish“!

I felt a strong tug to write this post today on the day when many attend a house of worship of their own choosing. Many of us do not. For one reason or another. But not doing so does not lessen our faith commitment nor is it a condemnation of houses of worship.

What I do know is that in a world gone ‘cockeyed’ with negative venom - even in houses of worship & among those who have roles of leadership in those same houses - is that what the world needs now is hard lessons in how to “build each other up“.

Let us begin the important work of lifting & building each other up. If that makes us less “provocative” (my word for the controversial), bland or otherwise less interesting than say, those with huge memberships and broader-based discussions - then so be it.

It isn't only about numbers or the depth & breadth of discussions or "mature adult content" (I'll say more about that later). It's about doing what women can  do best.

And that’s the maturity, wisdom & courage to be a “builder-up of others“. . . wherever & whenever women (and men) gather.

So today. . . the operative word is “start“. Let us start the process of “building each other up” when the world comes crashing in.

And even when it doesn’t!

Have an awesome day hangin’ out with those who lift & build us up,

Linda, a fellow journeyer