so...most of you that know me know that i love donald miller's writing...i love the way he expresses truth...i love the way he makes you think...i love the way he paints pictures with words...
i have been so excited about the release of the movie "blue like jazz" based on his book by the same name...i told all my friends about it...i bought my tickets and went over the weekend...
i talked about it on twitter...i talked about it on facebook...i talked about it to anyone who would listen...i loved the movie...and was happy to see it doing really well in certain markets...
all day long in my twitter feed i kept seeing updates from donald miller about how the film was doing in different markets...doing well here...not doing so well there...
well...then it came to alabama...and his statement was "Alabama is doing well for a movie not about football."
i was rather annoyed by the statement...not offended...not mad...not up-in-arms...just bothered because people are always portraying alabamians as a bunch of backwards hicks who have not clue one about anything other than rebel flags, football and marrying our cousins...
my response was this: "@donaldmiller wow! degrading people of an entire state with blanket judgements may not be the best way to drum up support for your movie!"
he responded with an apology...saying he didn't mean it like that...he didn't mean to offend...and that was cool...i appreciated that he meant it as funny and didn't think of it being taken in another way...
so, i responded: "@donaldmiller no hard feelings...just feel like alabamians are too often characterized as a bunch of rebel flag wavin, fball lovin rubes..."
at which time he blocked me!!!
now, for me, this is a huge disappointment...because this is someone i respected...someone i believed to be level-headed, open-minded...reasonable...real...someone who would err on the side of grace, not retaliation...
this experience threatened to taint what i have taken from all of his books (yes, i have read and recommended every single one of his books)...to taint all i have heard him say in the lectures i have attended...to taint the blogs i have read...to taint everything i have thought about donald miller or read by him...
and i wanted to extend grace...to believe that somehow there was a reasonable explanation for what seemed like a very unreasonable response...it seemed there should be room for grace on both sides...
disappointment...
and so i am trying to let go of the disappointment...because, i know donald miller, at the end of the day, is, like me, a flawed human being...and as much as i want to say "i don't think jesus would have blocked me"...i also think jesus would have taken being blocked with meekness...
and so i shake off the dust of hurt and disappointment and move forward...leaving it in the hands of a God who is ever so much better at this grace thing than i...
and seriously...go see "blue like jazz"...it's a really good film
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