I have not talked about protests in this blog, but now, I believe I should. I grew up in the 60’s. We expressed our opinions…often! Yet, in all my protests, opinion articles, and debates, I never once destroyed property. Nor did my fellow protesters.
Before I became a Christ follower and Bible reader, I was impressed with ‘The Desiderata of Happiness’ by Max Ehrmann. In his beautiful poem are many references to behaviors that exemplify Biblical attributes. These are just plain and simple behaviors that will help us as a society to live together in safety and peace. One thing I don’t agree with in his poem is his ‘be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be.’ In my eyes, there is only One God. I guess he was being ‘politically correct’ in the 1920’s when he wrote it.
It is a detriment to our society right now that people believe the violence they are engaging in will bring about the change they allegedly seek. Can tearing into a small business bring back life? Can fire bombing, looting injuring someone bring change in a persons heart? Obviously the answer is NO! The change we seek in society can only be achieved by responsible adult conversation, dedicated work together, along with prayer.
In the verses from Romans above we are admonished to live peacefully with people as much as we can. I live near a barking dog. The dog is on it’s owners property, and is well taken care of…but she barks! First thing in the morning to last thing at night. Attempting to live peacefully with my neighbor, I say nothing. They have been home more with recovering from recent surgeries, and hear the dog, so they know. What can they do? Almost nothing, and that’s what I do too. My neighborhood is at peace. After all, I might do something that is annoying to them, and they are quiet about it too.
There can be nothing good come from taking matters into your own hands! In fact, when God says, ‘He will repay what evil was done,’ we can be sure He Will! And He has so many more resources in His hands! We need to be patient. When I am ‘done wrong’ I ask God to handle it and I wait! He always does a much better job than I could ever do!
Remember Esther? When there was a plot against the Jew’s, it was exposed by Esther. God revealed the plot and prompted the King to get rid of the perpetrator and his family! Now, I do believe God will take the evil that was meant for us and turn it to good. We see some good coming out of the evil virus, but, at what cost? If God handled it His way, I believe there would have been no loss of life. Still, there will be more good come from the changes we have made in our family life. Parents interacting with their children more now than before. Neighbors looking out for neighbors more than before. Even returning to older skills like baking bread and gardening have had a resurgence.
If you can, read the Desiderata . I hope you enjoy it as much as I did 50 years ago, and even today as it returned to my memory. Paul said it first though, ‘live at peace with everyone, and wait for God’s vengeance.’ We are here such a short time. The sacrifice we make for peace, weather in a family, a neighborhood, a city or beyond is a small price to pay to be able to ‘sleep in Heavenly peace’ with our fellow man.
My question for today; Think about what changes you have made since corona. Think about what ones you will keep. Please share them with me! I’d love to hear from you!
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