IN THE MIDST OF THE DARKNESS THERE NEEDS TO BE LIGHT

It seems like the conditions of the world will never change.  I watch the news to stay informed and get distressed about how violent and mean people are to one another.  Everyone is blaming everyone else and no one is listening to each other.  Even if weapons are not involved, tongues lash out.  It seems like everyone has their finger on a trigger, ready to shoot, with a bullet or a word that will harm or destroy whoever crosses us. “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong”.

It distresses me even more that as peaceful as I am, I know that those seeds of violence and aggression are in me.  Most of the time they are dormant because I try not to nourish them so they will not grow; but every once in awhile they do and the fruit of that growth comes out in an angry word or thought, comes out in judgment of a deed or a motive, or comes out in a prejudice or discrimination.  I don’t like it when those things show themselves because I know that’s not who I want to be.   Thankfully I am aware of these unwanted traits and have learned to recognize them and repent of them quickly.  I have been a reactor and have worked hard at being a responder.  I have come a long way, but perfection is still a goal I am moving towards.  The conditions of the world today are not a good environment to stay in for very long.  There are so many legitimate wrongs to be righted but how does that happen in the midst of all the battles being fought, both with bullets and words?

Jesus was born into a world that had a hostile environment; a lot of wrongs to be righted.  God’s people were expecting him to do just that; condemn and correct the political system, and the religious system.  But he didn’t do that.  He spoke of another kingdom and a different way to live; he healed people who were sick; he transformed hearts, minds, and souls of people to a different world of love and peace.  He was not of this world and he enlightened those who receives and believed in him that they weren’t either.  The same is true today.  In the midst of the darkness those who know and love him are to be light and salt; being above and beyond the battling forces and revealing a third and different way.

It starts with me, planting and nurturing the good seeds that yield love and peace not hosting or feeding the bad seeds that yield hate and violence.