If you are surrounded by kind and positive people, that becomes your normal. It's not that you and they don't face life challenges, troubles and even a little unnecessary dramas now and then but it's now and then. The majority of the time is positive. Even the challenges and troubles are met with encouragement and calm determination.
If this is your normal, facing loud, dramatic and divisive people is shocking. It's like hearing a siren go off in your normally quiet neighborhood. It grabs your attention and you wonder what is wrong. If it starts happening more often, it becomes alarming.
On the other hand, if you live in a city where the sirens and other noises are more common, you become immune to them. Unless it's the police coming for you or an ambulance that will carry you, you just go about your own business.
If we are exposed to chaos, abuse, corruption, etc., day after day, it can become normal. We will overlook it, excuse it, and even expect it. Over time we may begin to create our own chaos, abuse, corruption, etc.
We can see it in family cycles of abuse. We can see it on a national level with the degradation of civility. It is not new. Slavery required an acceptance of abuse as society overlooked humanity and excused behavior focused on an entire race.
It happens with a "them and us" mentality. If the person belongs to "us", we will overlook and excuse behavior. If it's "them", there are no limits to the punishment that we're willing to exact. We will assign "them" with every possible danger and affliction we can imagine without thought of truth. If it's "us", we will mask over the very dangers and afflictions we so quickly assign "them" in spite of the truth.
We can watch for the warning signs. If your first reaction to hearing a criticism of one of "us", is to say "yes, but he/she is very good at", you are avoiding the issue. Or if you immediately begin saying, "Yes, but 'they'" and divert the discussion to an affliction of someone who is not "us", you are avoiding the issue.
What is your standard of normalcy? What is your standard of consistency? How willing are you to seek and hold to truth?
Your spirit depends on it. Your immediate community depends on it. Your nation depends on it.
Our families, our communities and our nation cannot be healthy without consistent standards of behaviors and norms. It takes real work within our selves and in reaching out to those around us.
We cannot focus on changing others. But if we change what we are willing to accept, we will impact everyone around us. The opposite is true as well. If we are willing to accept less than we believe is right, it will also impact everyone around us. It's slow. But if we collectively work to improve the standards of behavior that are spiritually true, the best changes will happen. We cannot do it out of hurt or anger. We need to consistently speak and act in truth and love. Demonstrate with everything you do and say what you believe to be the highest standard. It is the very definition of "the Meek shall inherit the earth." While many understand it as lacking strength, it is the most powerful spiritual truth.
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