Message Boards: The Best of Times, The Worst of Times

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." ... Ephesians 4:29


(Or as my mother used to always say, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.)


*******


Online message boards (or comment sections, etc.). Oh, the potential! 

I love reading the 'behind the scenes stuff', watching the special features on dvd's and discovering what happened next after a book ended. I enjoy digging up the missing details.

But, only when those details lead to a good ending. Oh, it doesn't always have to be a happy ending, exactly, but a satisfying one is pleasant.

And another thing? I love discovering how other folks feel about the books, movies and actors I appreciate. 'Reading their pulse,' so to speak. I'm thrilled when I compare notes and find like-minded souls who show me additional beautiful insights about what I love.

Which means, alas, it bugs me no end when mean-spirited people use message boards to rip the things I love to tiny, unfair, bloody shreds.

Gah! I hate strife, and well, God seems to despise it, too. Out of the seven things He hates (listed in Proverbs 6), four of them happen in message boards all the time:

"God hates... a lying tongue ... a heart that devises wicked imaginations... a false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren."

Sigh. And yet, year after year, still I keep reading people's opinions about what they read online. What am I, crazy nuts? heh.

But yesterday the sweetest thought dropped into my head. Namely, that the message boards in Heaven are going to be awesome! They'll be full of uplifting messages about people, they'll list folks' greatest attributes, and point to what they did right, how they changed lives for the better and obeyed and reflected God's goodness.

Ahhh. I can hardly wait for those heavenly message boards! What a difference, what a rush to think about them.



*****


And all right. We'll probably be able to read each other's minds in Heaven and won't need to read message boards, but just humor me, ok? :) I'm one of those people who believe Heaven will have what each of us, personally, loves best.




*****

"Do not speak unless you can improve the silence." ... Proverb