Sarcasm Exposed

"Ever been engaged in a conversation with someone and you were attempting to disclose your deepest feelings only to have them deflect your sincerity with sarcasm? Their response to your disclosure was exposure."

This quote is taken from a blog post I read yesterday by Randall Worley. It spoke to my heart so poignantly I shared a link to it on my Facebook. I have been mulling it over in my heart and mind ever since. I wanted to share with you what Holy Spirit has revealed to me through the words given to Randall.

Someday I hope to blog about a concept I will refer to as spiritual mirrors. In short a spiritual mirror is something the Lord uses to reveal to you something about you that needs refining to look more like Jesus. It is a mirror because it is usually revealed to me through another person. What you find most aggravating about someone's personality is sometimes a mirror to something you also do. OUCH! Yes, I know, it hurts.

Randall's post on incessant sarcasm is a spiritual mirror for me. Allow me to explain. I have often been hurt by sarcasm. Maybe you have thick skin and aren't effected by sarcasm. Not me. I am a feeler and my vulnerability and transparency can often leave me as a target for what Randall refers to in the opening quote as "disclosure exposure."

I could end this post here and it would be enough, but there is more and I would be remiss not to be vulnerable and transparent with you. I would like to be able to write that I had only been a victim of sarcasm, but alas, I am afraid this is the "mirror" part...I have also been guilty of dealing out my fair share of incessant sarcasm. Yes, I have hurt others in an attempt to make myself more comfortable. OUCH!

To those of you reading this post that know me, if I have hurt or offended you with sarcasm, please except my sincerest, most heart-felt apologies. This is an area I have now submitted to the Lord for refining and pruning. It is never acceptable to use sarcasm to bring pain, one-upmanship or to avoid being "real."

A friend shared with me the Greek word from which we derive the word sarcasm from:

σαρκάζω (sarkazo) which means 'to tear flesh.'

Has your heart ever been torn by sarcastic comments? Have you been guilty of wielding such comments that tear flesh? I think most of us could answer yes to both questions, although some have more of a struggle in this area than others.

Randall is the type of blogger I hope to become someday...he blogs almost daily and his blogs most always invite me to contemplate deeper things with God. I invite you to check out his blog, but be advised he isn't your mainstream pastor/writer. He goes deep into the things of God...often times making one question theology so readily accepted in the mainstream church.

Going deeper with God makes My Soul Sing! Now, if you dare, go read the post that inspired this one here.