The young women sitting next to me at the coffeeshop have been here before. I'm not sure if they go to Westmont (the local Christian college) or simply the same church—but their conversations are exhausting.
Today they're talking about "being a slave to gossip" and "giving reproach with love" and it's the same tiring rhetoric from when I was their age. I don't know what I expected, but I'm starting to realize that this is how societal progress gets stalled. Their whole view of the world is bifurcated by what is aligned with their view of scripture and what isn't.
Which—lmfao—isn't biased at all. And which—lmfao—is also what I did 25 years ago. The same exact words!
But this isn't about them. It's about me. I want to grab them by the shoulders and scream into their mouths to wake the fuck up because I want to go back in time, grab myself by the shoulders and scream into my 20-year-old mouth to wake the fuck up. To save myself 15 years.
But I also know that the progress our souls make in this life moves at a speed we can handle. Even if I could go back, Zach from the year 2000 wouldn't have listened.
For some, like myself, the progress from where I started to where I am now seems to have a covered a distance of light years. And it's not my place to judge the progress of others. This moment—and what I choose to do with it—is important.
I've been exploring all the ways there is are shortages of kindness in the world.
But dear lord I want them to shut the fuck up. I'm trying not to visibly roll my eyes or crinkle my face in disgust. To let them live.
