Bikinis on my blog!

Yesterday a friend sent me a screen shot of how my blog looked when it appeared on his computer. At the bottom was a picture of a row of bikini clad women. I was shocked!

My first thought was that my blog had been hacked and an evil person was compromising my friends and me. It turns out that the motive behind the picture was not to harm, but to profit. The origination of the picture was not an enemy, but WordPress. It was an advertisement. I wanted to be relieved. I know that WordPress needs to generate revenue. Nevertheless, a sick feeling remained in my stomach. Was it better that my vendor was “legitimately” sending sketchy pictures to my readers than if a crook was distributing pornography? I remain conflicted.

This is a metaphor for the world we live in. Sometimes the difference between right and wrong is not immediately apparent. Sometimes it is difficult to determine which people (business, organizations, etc.) are trustworthy and which ones are not. Who do we trust? Should I take some kind of action against WordPress because it attached an ad to my blog that I think is inappropriate? Should I initiate a conflict with this vendor? I honestly don’t know. I guess I probably won’t unless these kinds of ads become common.

I am confident of my commitment to be trustworthy. I don’t always accurately discern who to trust and I know that I am not always trusted, but my intention to others and to myself is to act with integrity, to cause no harm, and to glorify God.