"Flashback Vengeance"

This weekend I wandered into the streets of Normal Height’s ritual event called the Adam’s Ave Unplugged. The event featured 170 live musical performances staged inside or around, more than 30 restaurants and bars that lined the neighborhood. By the time I found parking, I was too hungry to be walking 2 miles worth my curiosity.

Altogether, it was a really fun experience [once I fed myself]. Vic and I walked in and out of some interesting stores. We eventually found ourselves drawn by the sound of this girl with a soothing, but deep voice coming out of Lestat’s so we went in, sat down through majority of her set and to my surprise, I REALLY enjoyed it! Jessica Bell is the name [sorry I can’t provide any videos or songs for you. She’s really underground material]. Her lyrics were like Jason Maraz met Ingrid Michaelson- very melodic and relatable all in one. One of her songs was talking about “Memories.” The ones that you remember but they don’t have any significant meaning other than the fact that they were experiences you had and will continue to do so throughout time. I woke up to that thought this morning after doing my devotions and I read Proverbs 24: 17-18 “Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath.” And the first person I thought of after reading this was [the name(s) that shall not be named]. And I thought about how I really felt about these….people. And let’s be honest. I’m not their biggest fan. [Shrug]. It happens. [Please hold the stones till after the blog]. But the feelings or thoughts I have towards them cannot and will never justify me as a person. I’m not going to say, “I’m better than that..” cause honestly, I’m not…..hell, YOU’RE NOT! (yeah, I threw that one in there to make myself feel less of a horrible person. Thanks). But if I read the verse right, its basically saying that wishing vengeance upon a person just displaces God’s wrath upon them and probably onto you. “Let not thine heart be glad when he [she] stumbleth: Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath.” Here we are in situational drama where someone has hurt us, and they hurt us bad. Maybe to them, they don’t give a rat’s ass, but to you, it was the world. Maybe it still is. Over time they become this “memory” that Jessica speaks of. But the thing is, wishing or glorying in other people’s discomfort does not and will not make your life any better than theirs. Shoot if anything, the more we wish someone negativity, the higher and higher the chances are that it’s just ricocheting of their shiny, bright, lives and back onto us; we just shoot ourselves in the foot. God says, bless them that curse you, love them that hate you-forgive 70x70 [somehow this equals eternity. I don’t get that math equation]. But live truthfully; allow yourself to recognize the pain and hurt you have, but don’t project onto others. Live your live well, live it right, and live it for others. Before you know it, you won’t even notice the other person that took up the enormous amount of mental space you had reserved for them. Yes, a happy life is a person’s greatest revenge, but a TRULY, HAPPY life needs no revenge at all. Think about that…. -Tin