Very local, as in restricted to the extended household.
I have a mission. As God’s appointed elder — this wasn’t my idea — over this family, the mission includes facing all the idiocy which arises from people being people. Almost without fail, every emotional storm in the family comes from someone failing to keep their eyes on the mission.
Broadly, the mission is Truth. I’ve expended enough electrons elsewhere on this blog defining what that phrase means; the point here is the mission for each person in pursuit of Truth ranges all over the map. No one can tell you your specific mission except the One who grants it. I don’t pretend to dole out mission assignments, but to try enabling whatever people believe they have to do.
If conditions deteriorate, the mission remains unchanged. If conditions interfere, you fix what you can because the mission must go forward. If something can’t be fixed, you must adjust how you execute the mission. Creation is not a dumb and passive participant, despite appearances to the contrary. God works through all His Creation to inform us of His imperatives.
It really doesn’t matter what the little crisis is. The problem is someone forgot to notice it didn’t matter, and turned it into a matter. Now we face a soap opera series and that interferes with the mission. As you might expect, the storm arises from someone who has no clue about the mission, nor does it seem this one even comprehends the meaning of such things. You can’t fix stupid; this is not a disability, per se, but a truculent rejection of the revealed truth. We can only heal those who repent, and only God can move the heart to true repentance. All we can do now is refuse to get entangled in the make believe crisis.
There are plenty of harmless fables, things which do not interfere with the mission. I’ll play along when I have time. The key to “harmless” should be obvious by its effects. There are times when fables can be projected in manipulative wordings which cause trouble. A call to action based on a lie is a threat to all, but we react only to the part which falls within our mission. Whatever tool fits your character and the context is the one you use. That ranges between a very emphatic withdrawal, to verbal warnings which can be selectively laced with sarcasm and contempt, to actual physical force when necessary. Only act within your mission to cut off a real threat, noting sometimes the biggest threat is silly nonsense spouting from loud mouths. Particularly telling is when the same event becomes a different story told to different people.
I’m facing that right now. Should this metastasize any farther, actively hindering the mission, I’ll take some very ugly and forceful action to quarantine the source. It will be very costly, as there is a lot of family attached to this source. I can’t change that, because the power of choice for some things will never be in my hands. It doesn’t matter what this one thinks is the problem; I am constrained by my calling and mission to operate as I do. It’s never a question of absolute right or wrong, but what I find I must do. I’m always willing to undo those kinds of decisions when people seek peace; that’s part of the mission.
Such is that business of walking in your convictions, those things you can’t walk away from, because it’s the foundation of your identity and how you connect to reality. Never mind the quality of that connection, it’s what I have. It’s not open to inspection from someone whose imperfections are equal to mine — which is all of humanity. I certainly don’t mind people questioning me about most things which aren’t convictions; it’s not about me. It’s all about the mission.
