I posted a cutesy picture of my husband this week and I think maybe a million people liked it. Same with pictures of the pie I baked. And my dog. My #tbt of our first wedding anniversary. Instant hits.
Then one morning, I posted a Bible verse that cropped up during my readings and commented with a note about bringing peace, working together, recognizing shared humanity, etc. It was not eloquent, it was not long, but I hoped to at least recognize the presence of Christ in the midst of tragedy instead of calling out haters and perpetuating the cycle of online negativity. It was such a far cry from my normal puppy pictures. Surely this would get so many hits. What a conversation we could have! So I posted. And waited. And waited.
And waited.
Nothing.
Finally, a notification. Let the conversation begin!
Except....not. It was my mother. I could post about watching paint dry and my mother would click the thumb's up. Might as well have actually posted about watching paint dry for all the conversation it spawned.
I'm a weird Millennial. I don't usually post about politics, religious conflicts, current events, personal slights, family things, etc. I do grapple with these issues, just not publicly. There's enough drama and arguments without my contributions, because Lord knows I used to jump right in and say whatever I thought sounded best, even if I hadn't researched the issue to even develop an informed opinion...especially if I hadn't developed my own opinion. Maybe because of the chaos created from that impetuosity, I spend my opinion coins sparingly. I like to think they are worth more now.
Opinions are like butts. Everyone's got one. Doesn't mean you need to let it all hang out.
What I'm trying to say is that sometimes we forgo very important conversations for very shallow ones and walk away thinking we displayed prodigious skill and intelligence and dazzle everyone with our convincing arguments when really all we did was show off our butt.
Maybe we're just throwing away our opinion coins. Pearls to swine.
What a waste of a good butt.
