The Journey

It is as if people are not listening to the cries of those dying in our streets, being blown apart by terrorist in France, or so sure they are right and the government wrong that they stage a coup – trying to bring down the government. At home the latest hate movement is killing the police. Overseas it is random killing of people of all ages, even children, just because of where they may live or happen to be at that moment.

Today after church we find out that a 29 year old man from Kansas City, Mo. traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to kill police officers. I guess this was his birthday gift to himself – be killed after killing three policemen and wounding three others. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer but I am not a butter knife… I don’t understand why a former military person who swore an oath to protect this country against all enemies both foreign and domestic could raise his weapon again a police officer? I get it that not all police officers act fairly to all races. But all people do not give respect to the police – the good police.

So we are at a point where we need to look deep within to see if we are part of the problem or part of the answer to the great problems facing our cities, states, country and world. In the use of our language are we sending out words that heal and bring us together or do our words bring about a division between us and others, drive wedges in the current problems and end up making things worse. Here is a little test: What do you put on Facebook… words of hope and healing… words that uplift and encourage? Go through the posts you have made in the last few months… how many degrade other people, especially political candidates? My page is filled with posts from my family and friends who constantly defame anyone in the Democratic Party. Other family and friends do the same against the Republican Party. Neither one is helping our national discussion on working together for the common good. Now, I must admit that I was part of that negative talk of which I am not proud. I lost some good friends between the political stuff and the UNC academic fraud. So what I have done is this: I delete all political and hate speech without a full read, and I do not respond to those posts nor post negative stuff of my own. And I am actually considering leaving Facebook altogether. Facebook seems to encourage bad attitudes and hate speech.

Now, that may not be much but at least I am not adding to the negative pile already out there or the additional pile that will be coming in the next two weeks (Conventions). Perhaps that is something we all can do – resist passing on the negative and not joining the authorship of our own negative speak. Maybe then the level of anger will fall to a more tolerable level, and the grace of Christ will come to the forefront.

Grace and Peace

Steve

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