What is funny in the fall of another?
Laughter earns you a fall so you can taste
The pain you mocked. The fall of another
Appears funny to the presumptuous who
Missing or mixing the picture, jumps to judgment
But the sober feels the pain and shame of others
Knowing we’re all learners not judges, that when
We learn, we grow together despite our differences,
That judgement divides and sets us against others.
Focus on your journey, do your best with what
You’re given. Laughter is healthy, funny is merry
But there’s no sense reveling in the fall of another.
Life’s troubles are rife, don’t muddle yours meddling;
With the joyful, celebrate. With mourners, grieve or pass:
Don’t meddle and puddle your pool: life’s tough enough.
Food For Thought: It is humiliating that we miss the mark and have to take a fall or two. It is further complicated when we have to do so before insensitive people who take delight in the pain of another. It is such a sorry sight to behold; one laughing at the weakness of another, people celebrating the pain of others. Yet we do it often without realizing what we are doing. Recently, there was a terrible incident that occurred. It was excruciating to imagine what the parties involved were going through. Complicated by the fact that I couldn’t reach the affected friend, the only way I could relieve the burden in my heart was to pray for all the affected persons and especially for him. I knew very little of the truth but it was amazing listening to the numerous analyses that different folks were gushing of the same situation. As it played out all around, I don’t know how many people stopped to consider that they could have been the ones caught in that web. It could have been anybody really. None of us has it all together save for the coverage of God’s mercy and grace. The misfortune of another is not opportunity to laugh, to judge and condemn irrespective of whatever may have happened. In such times, we would be best guided by, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.”
Scripture: That you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you. 1 Thessalonians 4: 11.
Prayer: Dear Lord, grant me grace to bear my challenges, sensitivity to sympathize with others, and decorum to walk away from trouble, amen.