Hummingbird

A good friend of mine emailed this story to a bunch of us a couple days ago, from Ellen DeGeneres' website:

HUMMINGBIRD (Ellen Degeneres)

"While I was making my morning coffee, I had one of those coffee ground volcanoes. You know when the filter collapses and coffee and grounds go all over the counter? So, I'm wiping up this little mess and something catches my eye out my window. I saw a little hummingbird flying. It was just sort of hovering and then it drank from my fountain. I was just staring at it, mesmerized, and I forgot how about how aggravated I was just a few moments before. I realized that I had been given this little tiny gift. Thank you little hummingbird. It lasted just a minute, but it changed my mood and made me happy and I was able to hang onto it all day.

That's our choice. We can choose to focus on spilled coffee grounds or the hummingbird outside our windows. You just need to take the time and be very still and quiet. I know that right now there is a mother of one or two or four or seven saying, 'That's easy for you to say, Ellen. You don't have a baby in a high chair crying and throwing their eggnog…or whatever babies eat.' I guess what I'm trying to say is, when you're lucky enough to see something beautiful like a hummingbird outside your window, take the time to appreciate it."

I agree.

Too many people are so focused on complaining about the sad state of affairs their lives are in, or this country is in, that we forget that we actually live in one of the most comfortable countries in the world. A country with a Starbucks on every corner and a couple McDonalds in every small, rural town. A country where it is an expectation to receive the best available medical care there is, even when one has no way of paying for that medical care. And a country where the biggest problems facing the coming generation is student loan debt and the psychiatric diagnosis du-jour.

What is more annoying, for example? Learning about a couple of completely wacky, outnumbered "Christian" fundamentalists, or living in a country where there are over 1,000 AIDS deaths per day? Where men don't even care about knowing their HIV status, because it is seen as such a burden, thus apathetically infecting dozens more women by their unprotected heterosexual sex.

Yet many people in the U.S. still find things to complain about that just aren't that big a deal. Maybe it's just a part of societal evolution. If people don't complain, how does society as a whole work towards making anything better?

My point is that complaining is just like an addiction. People become so used to complaining, and putting themselves in the position of victim, that it often seems like nothing will work to get them to stop. Because they like the position it puts them in.

Which brings me to my second point. Our anti-gay opponents are so concerned that the U.S. is going to hell in a handbasket, they are so pessimistic about human nature, I feel they often don't stop to see what they really do have. And oftentimes, that is (or, as we are led to believe) wonderful, loving spouses and children.

If they are so happy with their own lives, why are they so set on attacking other people? Why are they focused on turning gay people into the "enemy of Christianity?" Why, if they are so happy and loving, do they need to scapegoat other groups of people who have nothing to do with their lives or their problems?

They are so focused on everything negative they believe is happening, it often seems they don't stop to look at the so-called humingbirds along the way. Instead of enjoying their alleged happy lives and loving spouses, they would rather construct enemies out of groups of people who are doing nothing to harm said lives.

"Save the 'Institution' of marriage from the homosexualist agenda!" they scream.

and

"Stop mainstream acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle!" they bleat.

and

"Make America more 'Christian,' this is 'one nation, UNDER GOD' after all!" they preach.

and

"Bring Back Prayer in the Schools, and put the 'Christ' back in Christmas, even in this country that has separation of church and state!" they shriek.

Every single day, I get a new AFA Action Alert with Dom Wildmon complaining about something new. Something unintentional. Something usually harmless. For example, a couple days ago, they sent out an Action Alert screaming that the department store Lowe's had called Christmas trees "Family Trees" instead in their ads. And I quote from the Action Alert, itself, "Lowe's evidently did not want to offend any non-Christians, therefore they replaced "Christmas tree" with "Family tree." Of course, if Christians are offended that is evidently ok."

Riiiight. Because it's okay to force your religion on others. But make something neutral so that no one is excluded, it's a damn shame.

But I digress, the ads, as it turns out, were actually due to a marketing error, not any deliberate attempt to exclude God or Christ from the trees. Especially since their website includes many references to "Christmas" instead of the more religion-neutral "holiday."

But before finding out the truth, the AFA was all set to have their sheeple boycott Lowe's, as they have done with Ford. The next day, the AFA had to send out a sorry-ass email explaining what had really happened.

Here is the letter that was supposedly sent to AFA from Lowe's:
"Randy, Thanks for taking my call this morning. Let me reiterate my apology that we had an advertising error that created a stir. Here's a statement that we'd appreciate your posting on your web site, if possible:

Lowe's has contacted the AFA and assures us that it is proudly committed to selling Christmas trees this year, as it has done for more than 60 years. The company apologized for the confusion created in its 2007 holiday catalog when it headlined the page of Christmas trees "family trees." The error was not caught before the publication was distributed, and Lowe's says it is disappointed in the breakdown in its proofing process.


Lowe's assures us that they refer to trees as Christmas trees in this season's television and magazine ads and in its advertising flyers. The company says it is redoubling its efforts to proof its catalogs in the future to prevent this issue from recurring.


We appreciate Lowe's for listening to its customers and responding appropriately to our concerns."

And don't even get me started on the Watchmen on the Walls:

"We are against cohabitation, divorce, abortion, adultery and other behaviors that weaken the marriage-based society on which civilization depends. But we are especially focused against homosexuality, because those who practice this self-destructive vice, and have organized themselves into a political movement, are the chief enemies of the natural family." [emphasis added]

and

"We are seeking clear-thinking men and women of every nation and ethnicity to join with us. We don‘t want cowards who, for example, speak out against “gay” marriage but are afraid to say that homosexuality itself is wrong. And we don’t want bigots who hate homosexuals in the same way they hate races other than their own. We want brave people of conscience who love and respect the natural design of the human family and want it to be promoted, established, strengthened and protected as the foundation of every society on earth.

We are the Watchmen on the Walls and we will not shrink from our duty."

Oh really? And what duty is that? In their poor, little misguided--not to mention delusional--eyes, they actually see themselves spreading the word of God and love. Because surely if Jesus were alive today, He would approve of their speech and actions.

It reminds me of those bracelets everyone wore in grade school. "WWJD?" Surely not any of the above.

Which brings me to my third and final point. What if everyone were to throw down their weapons, their defensiveness, and their hatred for one minute and actually try to empathize with the other side?

Usually, when people complain, they don't want solutions. They don't want cheering up. They want empathy.

In an US (gay rights advocates) vs. THEM (AFA/Watchmen/Opine) battle, empathy is usually what is lacking in the debate.

So here it is, my empathy to THEM: "Wow, your lives must be terrible, and I see you are burdened with so many problems! I had no idea, as I go about minding my own business, that others like you are suffering so much. I don't know how you deal with all the problems of this country's morality on your backs. I certainly wouldn't be able to do it. It must be a horrible way to live. Thanks for tackling it for us all. I realize you are tackling an insurmountable beast that will likely fail in the end. I know how frustrating that can feel, and now I understand why you are often very hateful towards people like me. May you one day find peace."