We are all compromised in some areas of life. None of us have it all or can do it all. Some of our compromises are more challenging and noticeable than others--those compromises humble us and can challenge us greatly.
I thought about this recently with regard to a compromising situation. I simply don't have great capacity in a particular realm I'm called to be apart of, yet I knot that it's important for me to do what I can to participate--it's a situation where I am not super strong, and a situation where that relative weakness will be noticed. A humbling situation.
How I react to the situation will matter since I won't be acting for myself alone, but for others, like me, who have less capacity in that realm. If I do my best, I'll send the message to others that they can do this too. While this is a crazy connection, I find myself thinking of the comedian Leslie Jones--one aspect of Leslie that I like so much is that she just puts those compromises out there with humor, strong speak, and confidence time and again. Leslie gives strength to all of us who have to push in areas that are more compromising, challenging, and often inequitable too. This weekend on SNL, she spoke strongly about Alabama's decision related to abortion laws--her worlds were strong, funny, and real demonstrating how crippling it can be for the government to create strict laws related to very complex and personal issues people face.
I am also thinking about a friend of mine whose child faced great compromise in our culture. This friend did everything she could to position her child to become strong in our culture, to proudly be who she is and use her gifts and talents to become successful. I watched this friend work day after day to do what was right and good for her daughter, and I've witnessed her daughter's growing strength, confidence, and positive impact on her own life and community. My friend could have listened to the greater world's judgement and disrespect for her daughter, but instead my friend worked with humility to develop her daughter's potential rather than exasperate the compromises she faced in our sometimes harsh and cruel culture.
So many stories in the news demonstrate how individuals face compromise with strength, humility, intelligence, grace, and drive. Those stories inspire us to be the best that we can be, and to help one another be strong and successful in the face of compromise. Today many are grappling with the culture's either/or mindset that maintains you're in or out, good or bad, weak or strong and so on--we have to act against this mindset, a mindset that criminalizes and punishes many, Instead we have to understand that we're all on multiple continuums, and where we are strong we have potential to help and make better, and where we are weak, we have to look to those good strong people around us to lift us up. It's not a perfect world, but with good actions, attitudes, and think, we can make it better. Onward.
