No Bees in My Bonnet

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“Is it really worth getting a bee in your bonnet over?”

If she were still with us here on earth, that’s what my mother would have asked.

Blogging is, for the vast majority of us, an avocation rather than a vocation or profession. A pleasant diversion from our daily toil.

I am thankful today for my friends in the blogging community. And happy for those who have supported one of my recent endeavors, The Seventh Day Blog Carnival. I appreciate the kind words and participation of many wonderful fellow bloggers.

So I found myself scratching my head in bewilderment when one lone voice rose up to chastise me. What was my transgression? I visited her blog and left a comment, inviting her to participate in the Carnival.

The vitriol oozed out of her e-mail as she accused me of “spamming” her.

Spamming?

She claimed she had never heard of me, even though I was one of her subscribers and regularly read her posts for quite some time.

Not any more. I quietly unsubscribed and let her know that she wouldn’t hear from me again.

Still not satisfied, she e-mailed me again and lectured me about the proper way to leave comments on not just her blog, but every blog. She notified me that I should only leave comments on blogs that have content “related to” the theme of On the Horizon.

Wow, I missed that directive in the “Bloggers’ Book of Etiquette, Volume 101A.”

Oh, there’s no such book, you say? Imagine that.

Ironically, the same woman who took time out of her day on three separate occasions to instruct me about the finer points of leaving comments on blogs also wrote these words on her site one week ago:

Isn’t loving others for the specific purpose of loving others, with no strings attached and no expectations or selfishness the ultimate expression of God’s very nature? And if it is, isn’t that the best vision of hope we can give to those around us?

As I was driving home tonight in the pouring rain, thinking about what would cause someone to behave in such a manner, especially when, as she pointed out, she had never “heard of me,” has never met me in person, has never corresponded with me previously and, presumably, has never read any of my writings here, I would have sworn my mother was in the car with me, asking me the question I posed at the outset: “Is it really worth getting a bee in your bonnet over?”

As I was struggling to drive home safely, straining to see the dark road as the rain pounded my vehicle, the evening newscast was broadcast on the radio. The foreclosure rate is skyrocketing — people are losing their homes or, in many more cases, barely hanging on to them from month to month, unable to refinance or sell, praying that they will be able to make the mortgage payment when next month arrives. Young men and women are still dying in Iraq. Another young Hollywood star is dead and no one seems to know why — or why so many who never even met him weep at his doorstep as though a member of their own family had been lost. Britney Spears bolted from the courthouse yet again.

I left a comment inviting another Christian to participate in a blog carnival. A carnival I conceived for the express purpose of showcasing others’ writing in an attempt to help them gain a wider audience. No strings attached.

“When you’re invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, ‘Friend, come up to the front.’ That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I’m saying is, If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”Then he turned to the host. “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God’s people.”

Luke 14:10-14
(The Message)

The Seventh Day is an outreach project. The inspiration for the Carnival was placed in my heart by the Holy Spirit. How boring life would be if we only read articles in the same blogs, written by the same authors, day after day after day after day . . . My life is fuller, richer and I gain wisdom by stepping out side my comfort zone to interact with people I don’t know who have had different life experiences than me and look at the world through a different lens.

I owe no apology for reaching out and inviting other bloggers to join in the fun. After all, if someone does not want to participate, they can graciously say “No thank you.” Or say nothing at all. No strings attached.

I’m thankful that the Holy Spirit allowed me to hear my mother’s voice again, if only in my memory. I miss her wisdom, her down-to-earth approach to life. She knew just what to say to make me stop, evaluate a situation from a different vantage point and, most importantly, keep things in perspective.

Blogging is supposed to be relaxing, refreshing . . . fun. We are commended to hold up our fellow bloggers, encouraging one another, loving each other with no strings attached, no expectations, no selfishness. Yes, that is the “ultimate expression of” the Divine Creator’s nature and “the best vision of hope” that I can imagine.

No one is going to take that vision of hope from this Hopeful Spirit. Not even a woman with a large bumblebee in her bonnet over something so entirely inconsequential as a comment on a blog.

You are ALL invited to participate in The Seventh Day Blog Carnival! If you’d like to join in, send me the link to the post that you would like to have featured. Make it your best post from the prior week.

I also encourage you to drop by and read some or all of the entries from folks who did opt to join in.

I will extol the Lord at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.

My soul will boast in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.

Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.

Psalm 34: 1-3

The Message

Blessings to all of you! I wish you a wonderful week, punctuated by thankfulness for your many blessings and a healthy perspective about what is truly important — devoid of any bees in your bonnet.