Give Thanks...Less Contention

 The leader of the religion of which I am a part spoke to us two weeks ago. During the two-day event leaders of the church give talks with instruction and encouragement. One talk hit close to home.

Be a peacemaker.

The world needs less contention.

In the talk President Nelson asked us to be less contentious with our social media interactions and other interactions as well. He stressed the importance of being a peacemaker. As I listened I thought of a few people I know who could be a little less contentious online. President Nelson then said that as we listened to his counsel, we might be thinking of others who would benefit from his words. That caused the audience to laugh...

Myself included.

No way he was talking to me because I go out of my way to avoid contention online. My posts are "vanilla" at best. 

But then, I re-thought his message. He was dead-on talking to me, because even though I don't post things, boy do I feel them. I'll read a post on Twitter or Facebook and the fuming begins. I think of many things to post--total destructive zingers guaranteed to render all other opinions obsolete. I think them, and sometimes I've even gone so far as to write them out, but when it's time to hit the "Post" button, I chicken out--mostly because I know it will do absolutely no good. My opinions have never been changed because someone basically yelled at me their opinion. Why should I think my opinions would do anything different?

I need to be less contentious in my life. I need to not think of argumentative things. If that means abandoning social medial all together, then that's what I should do. I'm grateful for the advice. Now, all I have to do is follow it.