Odd word, "gripe." When I was younger, I always read it as "grip" and got it confused with "grippe" which is an old word for the "flu" which is really "influenza." Ah, the joys of language!
Anyway, it is amazing how easy it is to find yourself in the midst of a good gripe. It is much easier to catch than the grippe, by the way, which is highly contagious. But griping is worse than contagious, we grow it ourselves.
We gripe about anything and everything. We gripe about even things that are good, because they are not great. If someone gives us $20 as a gift, we gripe that they did not give us more. If you give an employee a raise of $20.00 a week, they gripe that they wanted more.
We gripe about people a lot. We gripe if they don't like what we give them (preachers are really good at this kind of griping). We gripe if they gripe. We gripe if they don't gripe because we are sure that they really do gripe just not to us, which means they don't trust us, which gives us a reason to gripe. Or something like that.
Television people gripe all the time. They gripe about candidates for public office, then gripe about who did not run, and then gripe about the ones who did run but lost. Then they gripe about who wins and gripe about what they do after they win. There is not a lot of positives in television news, which is primarily a gripe session. I can see the marketing now: CNN - Where The Nation Goes To Gripe!
Teachers gripe about students and parents. Students gripe about teachers and parents. Parents gripe about teachers and students. Janitors gripe about all of them.
Sometimes, people seem surprised that I no longer watch TV news. The reason is pretty simple. First, I have the internet and, to be quite clear, I cannot understand why I should watch someone tell me something I already read about a couple of hours before. Second, they do nothing worth hearing. They gripe about everything that is supposed to be important and then smile about everything that is meaningless. They complain about matters of great importance to the world (elections, crime, etc.) and then smile and tell me how to bake lasagna. I do not need that addition to my life. :)
At some point, we have to stop griping about everything. The world you have is the world God has given you. The people among whom you walk are the people whom God gave you to love and to whom you must minister. Sure, it would be nice if everything were perfectly the way you want it to be, but it is not. It is, however, exactly the way God decreed it would be. Complaining about where He has placed you is not wisdom nor a sign of maturity, it is foolishness and a sign of immaturity. Little children complain when the world is not what they want it to be. Adults live in a world that is not what they want it to be.
We are called to walk in the world God has given us. We are to be active in our love, active in our service, hopeful in the promises of God.
Griping does not fit anywhere in that analysis. Does it?
Anyway, it is amazing how easy it is to find yourself in the midst of a good gripe. It is much easier to catch than the grippe, by the way, which is highly contagious. But griping is worse than contagious, we grow it ourselves.
We gripe about anything and everything. We gripe about even things that are good, because they are not great. If someone gives us $20 as a gift, we gripe that they did not give us more. If you give an employee a raise of $20.00 a week, they gripe that they wanted more.
We gripe about people a lot. We gripe if they don't like what we give them (preachers are really good at this kind of griping). We gripe if they gripe. We gripe if they don't gripe because we are sure that they really do gripe just not to us, which means they don't trust us, which gives us a reason to gripe. Or something like that.
Television people gripe all the time. They gripe about candidates for public office, then gripe about who did not run, and then gripe about the ones who did run but lost. Then they gripe about who wins and gripe about what they do after they win. There is not a lot of positives in television news, which is primarily a gripe session. I can see the marketing now: CNN - Where The Nation Goes To Gripe!
Teachers gripe about students and parents. Students gripe about teachers and parents. Parents gripe about teachers and students. Janitors gripe about all of them.
Sometimes, people seem surprised that I no longer watch TV news. The reason is pretty simple. First, I have the internet and, to be quite clear, I cannot understand why I should watch someone tell me something I already read about a couple of hours before. Second, they do nothing worth hearing. They gripe about everything that is supposed to be important and then smile about everything that is meaningless. They complain about matters of great importance to the world (elections, crime, etc.) and then smile and tell me how to bake lasagna. I do not need that addition to my life. :)
At some point, we have to stop griping about everything. The world you have is the world God has given you. The people among whom you walk are the people whom God gave you to love and to whom you must minister. Sure, it would be nice if everything were perfectly the way you want it to be, but it is not. It is, however, exactly the way God decreed it would be. Complaining about where He has placed you is not wisdom nor a sign of maturity, it is foolishness and a sign of immaturity. Little children complain when the world is not what they want it to be. Adults live in a world that is not what they want it to be.
We are called to walk in the world God has given us. We are to be active in our love, active in our service, hopeful in the promises of God.
Griping does not fit anywhere in that analysis. Does it?