It’s Not Nickelback

For those who observe, we are neck deep in Lent, which means that many have probably abandoned whatever sacrifice they were planning to make this year. I, on the other hand, have not. Only because, this year I chose not to give up anything. Not because I’m above it, or over it. But simply because I knew this season would bring its own challenges.

My National Guard unit had our Annual Training this past month. This meant sleeping on the ground for several nights and getting pepper sprayed for training. I figured I would hang on to the chocolate.

Then, I said a word the other day that I feel I need to expel from my vocabulary, or at least use more sparingly than I do these days. And not just for a season.

A reel came up on my social media feed about songs that were overplayed. As I listened to an excerpt from one song, I said to myself, “I hate that band.” (No, it was not Nickelback.)

I must have said it out loud, because that word, “hate,” hung in the air for a few moments. And I started thinking about how freely I toss that word around. I hate traffic, I really hate I-285, I hate when CarPlay doesn’t work, and I hate when Pandora thinks that because I marked a song as a favorite that I want to hear it every SINGLE time I get in the car.

“Hate” is too strong a word for any of these things. Should it be used at all, it should be reserved for wickedness, idolatry, hypocrisy, greed, and violence. These things destroy lives. Malfunctioning CarPlay does not.

Words matter.

Peace.