Selfishness--Who Me?! | Previous Challenge Entry

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TITLE: Selfishness--Who Me?! | Previous Challenge Entry
By donna robinson
02/20/05
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I was going to skip the challenge this week. After all, it made me a little uncomfortable to try and show selfishness in others through some story weaving. I mean, this is basically a critical trait that we are dealing with and there’s nothing I could say that wouldn’t point back to me at some point in my life. So I figured I would just skip it. Oh, I guess I could have retold some bible stories that made the point, but once again I hesitated knowing it would just point back at me.

Instead, I spent most of this week trying to read all the entries in my category, beginner. I know how much it means to me to see “someone’s commented” in my email box. I figured a little encouragement goes a long way.

I felt quite smug since the topic I was avoiding was about “selfishness”. Who me?! I was just sure the Lord was noticing my extra effort. But then laziness set in as I finished the last read. Surely those writers in the intermediate and advanced didn’t need encouragement! I could quit now without feeling I was being selfish.

Today is the last day to write about this touchy subject. I decided on a whim, (okay, so the Lord probably had something to do with it!) to read some of the advanced writings too. The third one I read was a delightful story about the people and customs in Domoni, a town on the island of Anjouant. What got my attention was by the first and only reviewer. The reader had truly enjoyed the read and was surprised “no one else had taken the time to comment”.

I came to this board to regain my words; to find a way to reach the story teller within me once again. Yet, week after week, I write, submit and barely take the time to read the writings of others. If I’m lucky, I read maybe ten stories a week. I rationalize, of course, that I am incredibly busy and at night I’m just too tired. Yet, here I am writing on a Christian board, a place dedicated to the writer inside of us. Each of us who write here needs the encouragement of others. Some stories get two or three comments which are great, but if you take the time to at least glance at the other entries, you will find some get no comments. How sad that is for Christians not to be encouraged.

I realized that I didn’t have to look very far to find my selfish nature. Maybe I won’t be able to read every entry, every week, but I will start searching for pieces where there are no comments. We never know when the writer has reached that point where they wonder if their writing is worth the effort. If nothing else, I’ll remember to pray about this before I read, to make sure I am open to where the Lord might want me to read. I think this trait is probably pretty ingrained in me by now, but I'm going to try and chisel away at it, one read at a time.

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