If it is spring or summer, perhaps you don't want to read this. But, I am writing it in mid-winter ...so as to not speak lightly of anyone's sensitivities.

I do think we are generally becoming too sensitive of a society ...yet, at the same time becoming dangerously insensitive.

We appear much offended by things we perhaps need to hear, or by things we've heard that had no real offence intended by those statements.  I personally feel no one should joke about another's suffering ...at least, while they are suffering. Though I know some people who would not be bothered by this. And I guess it sort of depends on what kind of suffering.

In this case, I'm speaking of poison ivy.  Being in the throngs of winter, I know of no one who is presently suffering from that. And the two people that I knew of this past summer who had it, were what you might call, men's men ...and they wouldn't care if you chuckled a bit.

But, here goes:

Doctor: What seems to be the problem?  What brings you here today?

Patient: I have a rash ...I think it's poison ivy.

Doctor: Is the rash localized?

Patient: What do you mean?

Doctor: I mean, is it in one area?

Patient: I guess so ...I know of three other people who have it in my neighborhood.

Doctor: No, I mean, is it in one spot ...or is it all over?

Patient: It's not all over ...I still have it.  That's why I came here. And to answer your question about being in one spot ...I think poison ivy grows lots of places.

The Book of Ecclesiastes says, " ...a time to weep, and a time to laugh;" Sometimes the ivy causes blisters that weep, and perhaps that's not the time to laugh at that sort of discomfort. Maybe several months down the road, you're still not laughing.

Perhaps most people spend their day being professional ...and few people get paid for being funny.  I would probably be broke if I depended upon making a living that way.  The doctor didn't laugh either.  

Yet, after being a bit serious throughout the day, when needs be, there is often a need to relax and unwind.  Maybe we can sit back and laugh at a little Abbott & Costello-type humor.

But, not all humor is in good taste.  Psychologists are often a bit more generous. They have commented on how people need an outlet.  I've read articles which put forth arguments justifying the health benefits of exploring various forms of entertainment within the safe confines of your home, a theater, or a night club. And it has been said that TV and movies merely strive to become more genuine and realistic ...to mirror real life.  And besides, they say it helps them to feel better about themselves ...seeing that they are not the only ones struggling with those sort of problems.

Others have questioned whether TV and movies mirror life ...or if they strive too much to reach the extremes for entertainment or shock value.  And perhaps the extremes which are not that common, become more common as a result of each occurrence of it viewed through the daily mediums of entertainment.  It does seem to have a sort of numbing effect.

Arthur Gordon, in his book, Through Many Windows, speaks of how people are often initially appalled by things ...then, with each additional occurrence of successive shock value, the end result often becomes a ready acceptance of something that not too much before had been abhorred. As Arthur puts it so well, "A sense of outrage is fragile thing; it crumbles under a succession of shocks until finally it vanishes, leaving us accepting almost automatically what once we would have despised." 

Perhaps we should be mindful of that if we ever say, "That's unheard of!"  Beware!! ...may be more fitting, as the first mention of something can be considered an introductory remark ...and it will probably come up again.  It is often referred to as ---testing the waters.

T. S. Elliot questioned a psychologist's explanation for his support of pornography.  He explained how it would be, if we were to go to a country where most all the people were suffering malnutrition and starving.  He said, you'd not be able to take a huge juicy steak ...and parade it in front of the starving people, thinking it would satisfy their appetite.  Nor would you serve a buffet of all-you-can-eat ice cream sundaes to an ABA group ...Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous.

Yes, some people get hypersensitive to comments people make. I know I could be accused of liking sole food ...the number of times I stick my foot in my mouth. Honestly, I'm not trying to hurt anyone ...and I don't think anyone is trying to hurt me either. Sometimes we make attempts at wit ...and they could be considered wise cracks, assuredly void of much wisdom. We all can rest assured that we've also made misjudgments.

One person told me how much of stable person he felt I was ...another person told me I smelled like one. I did not get a big head as a result of the being showered with the first comment, nor did I take an extra shower the evening of the second comment.

No, we shouldn't be too hypersensitive about certain things. If someone asks if I slept in my clothes, it's nothing I can't iron out. If someone hurts my feelings by saying I look tired ...don't think I'll take that too harshly, it's perhaps better I just sleep on it anyway.

A lady who weighed 450 pounds, was feeling good about herself after losing 50 pounds. She was really proud about it, though felt nobody else could probably tell. A friend of hers kept complaining that she'd gained 5 pounds over the holidays, and that she felt so fat. The 400-pound friend asked how much she weighed ...and she said she was 125 pounds when she weighed that morning. The lady weighing 400 pounds said she had lost a little weight ...and was planning on losing more. The 125 pound lady wiggles her posterior, and asks, "How much more do you plan to lose ...and how long does it take for you?" As the larger lady turns to walk away, she says, "I plan to lose 125 more pounds ...and I plan to do it today!"

At times we are too sensitive about what others say, or what we perceive they are thinking about us. Yet, we may be not sensitive enough in our own choice of words when conversing with others. Yes, both can be true ...but, the absolute worst is when we are not sensitive enough to what God wants to communicate to us. 

No, it does not involve us being so sensitive, nor too insensitive. We should not feel so guilty that we feel God would find it difficult to reconcile with us ...as God is love, and not a deal maker. He sent us Jesus. It would be an insult to think the sacrifice of Jesus is not enough. And at the same time, we should not feel so free from condemnation that we feel free also of reproach. Sometimes we need to be rebuked ...but, the strength in it is in love.

Yes, I'm aware of some people who overuse their definition of 'tough love'. And I also know people who feel they believe in God, and it is their personal faith ...and no one can tell them anything. I often hope that God is not also excluded from their listening ear.

To know how to balance all that we need to for our lives ...is a very difficult thing to do.  We should seek the Holy Spirit's guidance and be ready to be led, yet, more often to be still.

It is often confusing to hear that others are led by the Holy Spirit to engage in things in life ...that we may feel the Holy Spirit is not leading us at all to do.

Yes, it's not uncommon for one person to be led one way, and another person to be led another way. But, that is only true when the two ways don't drastically conflict to the point of approaching contradictions to God's Word. 

Let me put it this way:  Suppose we work for a corporation that wants to distribute a product. One person may be asked to go one way, with a specific task in mind. And another person is asked to go another way, with a different task in mind.  Both are working for the corporation, and both are doing what is desired by the corporation to be accomplished.  What doesn't happen ...is for one to tell another that they are not doing what is expected of them to do.  Only the corporation head can tell them that.  

Let me be more explicit: Reading here, from the Bible, the Book of Acts, Chapter 15 ---"Notwithstanding, it pleased Silas to abide there still. Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the Word of the Lord, with many others also.  And some days after, Paul said unto Barnabas, 'Let us go again  and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the Word of the Lord, and see how they do. And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.  But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to further work. And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed unto Cyprus. And Paul chose Silas, going through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches."

By going separate ways, was not dividing the truth of the Gospels concerning Jesus and our salvation.  They went to different places, teaching and preaching the same way ...not separate ways.  The ones who listened to Paul and Silas, did not discredit Barnabas and John Mark ...and there was not a separate message from Peter, and again a different following with James.  They all followed Jesus ...and were thankful for the spreading of the Gospel by others who preached the same truth.