“To err is human, to forgive divine.”
– Alexander Pope

So, unless you were watching it live, I’m betting most of you have greeted this Monday morning with the news of what happened at the Miss Universe pageant last night. Am I right?

Whether you were one of the ones whose jaw was on the floor as you watched the cringe-worthy moment live, or you are just picking your jaw up off the floor as you got the news this morning, I can bet that this is going to be quite the story for a while. Prepare for your Facebook feed to absolutely BLOW UP with this horrible snafu.

In case you truly are one of the few who hasn’t been bombarded with the new memes, Facebook statuses, and news coverage yet, let me give you a quick rundown. Steve Harvey, the 2015 host of the Miss Universe pageant, screwed up. Royally. He announced the wrong winner of the pageant and had to retract his statement. Live. In front of millions of viewers all over the world.

Watch the clip here. (View discretion advised…this will make your stomach hurt. I promise.)

Now, if that didn’t make your stomach hurt enough…jump on Facebook for a while. Watch the new statuses appear like a raging wildfire.

“FIRE Steve Harvey!”

“Steve Harvey needs to do more than just say, “It was my mistake.'”

“I know who won’t be hosting the Miss Universe pageant next year.”

“I can’t believe he tried to place the blame on what was said on the card!”

(That last one is one of my favorites. Um…were we watching the same show? Steve Harvey showed the card to prove that this was no one else’s mistake but his own. Good grief.)

And then there are the memes:

Haha. Aren’t we Facebookians so clever?

But here’s the thing, peeps. Yes, Steve Harvey screwed up. Yes, this really sucks for Miss Colombia and Miss Philippines. But you know what sucks worse? Our disgusting human ability to pounce on another’s mistake and exploit it. Condemn him. Criticize him. Call for his utter destruction!!!

(Okay, maybe that last part was a wee dramatic.)  But you get the picture, right?

WHAT THE HECK IS WRONG WITH US?  What are we doing to each other?

This is the Christmas season. And whether you’re a Christian or not, the historical fact is that this season honors the birth of a man named Jesus. Was he divine or just a man? That’s your call. But this whole season centers around his birth and one of the things he said was this, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”

Think about that for a minute. How many of you have screwed up? How many of you have embarrassed the royal crap out of yourselves? Now, imagine that moment and picture it happening on live television, broadcasted world wide, and the internet ripping you a new one for it.

Come on people. Let’s show Steve some humanity. Go back and watch that clip again and see the image that I can’t get out of my head. Watch the man after he announces his mistake. Watch that walk off the stage. His head down, his shoulders slumped. That is what we need to watch. That is what needs to make our hearts break. That man made a mistake in front of the world. He then admitted the same…no pretenses, no blaming others…just a pure, heartfelt apology at his horrendous mistake and a blatant blame on himself and no one else. He even asked us not to put any blame on the ladies or on the judges. He showed us the card.

In essence, he said, “Here I am. Stone me.”

And what did we do?  We started stoning.

Come on, people. There’s enough poo slinging out there already, isn’t there? Do we really have to sling it at this sad situation too?

Here’s what I’m asking of you. Instead of slinging poo at others, let’s do what Jesus asked us to do. Let’s look at ourselves and sling some of that stored up poo in our own directions. Shall we?

Steve Harvey, I too have done some stupid shit in my life. And so has everyone else out here. And I think we should start a #humanityforHarvey movement. Share your own stupid stories.

Here, I’ll start. *holds nose and dives head first into the deep end of the poo*

Once, when I was 21 and stupid, I went to interview for a job at an orthopedist’s office. Somehow in my idiotic brain, I got “orthopedist” and “podiatrist” mixed up. During the interview, the lady asked me if I had ever been to an orthopedist before. My response? “No, I’ve never had anything wrong with my feet.”

What a dumbass.

Okay, your turn. Show some #humanityforHarvey. Let him know he’s not alone. Give me (and Steve) your best embarrassing moments.

We’re all in this together, people. We’re all human and we’re all just figuring it out as we go. Let’s show some compassion in the process, shall we?

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