Evil seems so easy to slip into, so easy to accept, to imitate, if only your emotions of hate and fear can be elicited. Evil is easy because there are no rules, while good always tries to abide by the rules set down by governments, by religions, and by the better angels of our nature. Honesty, love, kindness, forgiveness, giving someone the benefit of the doubt, standing up to what is clearly wrong is hard. Lying is easy. Hatred is easy. Selfishness is easy. Greed is easy. Giving in to one's emotions is easy. Evil has a running start, and good struggles to catch up, but eventually it almost always does. Still, there is a lot of heartache and grieving that must be endured while good gets itself activated. But what we have seen in the past eight years is one leader - brash, cruel, mean, hostile and vengeful - giving permission to weak and blind individuals to be their worst selves, to give in to evil. There is enormous power in one individual - from Jesus having power to prompt others to do good, to Hitler, Stalin and others, including Trump, prompting others to do evil. The world is upside down right now and more of us have to be energized to overpower the evil we see. Thanks for leading the way, John.
I’m here in Statesboro, where you are visiting this weekend. You certainly have described my life in this post and that is very sad for me. I’ve had to grieve the loss of relationship with family members.
It's always about money, or at least that's a statement people will hide behind. Saying Trump is better for the economy, better for their investments. People work hard for their money, including me, and I certainly don't begrudge anyone wanting to do the best for themselves or their families. But I'd like to believe we are on this earth to help each other, to try and get to know each other and understand each other. I think that would make the world a better, happier place, apparently not everyone agrees or we have different definitions of better and happy. It is very frustrating but I think I just need to push on because I believe my definition is right.
Yes, what grieves me most is that many of these people bear the name of Christ. I no longer identify as a Christian because of that. And when it ever comes up in conversation, it is a great opening to talk about the core teachings of and life of Jesus. But the thing that gives me hope is that I was not much different than the people I am grieving. I have changed. They can change, too.
I think it is so easy to fall into despair on any political landscape. Charles Dickens said it best,”These were the best of times and the worst of times” and it’s always been this way. It becomes unbearable for “real” Christ followers when we lose sight of the fact that this is not our “home” but a brief stop on our journey to be reunited with Christ. This is not just a battle against evil conduits like Trump and his minions. He is the facade of the real evil of the Prince of Darkness. He is the one that has tempted the masses with lies and false reality. That is how He operates. Did Christ not warn us that it would be so? Did we think that people we care about would not fall prey, that we Christ seekers are beyond temptation? But the flip side of that coin is that no one is beyond redemption either and that is what we must pray for and seek. So I tell myself every day that is what we must do on this brief stop. We must pray for and work toward redemption even when we don’t want to, when we want to hate back. It’s what the forces of Evil sow, hatred and discord. Easy to say, hardest thing you can ever do in life. This is where the rubber meets the road for Christ followers. No matter how weary, we are called to march forward with Christ.
Evil seems so easy to slip into, so easy to accept, to imitate, if only your emotions of hate and fear can be elicited. Evil is easy because there are no rules, while good always tries to abide by the rules set down by governments, by religions, and by the better angels of our nature. Honesty, love, kindness, forgiveness, giving someone the benefit of the doubt, standing up to what is clearly wrong is hard. Lying is easy. Hatred is easy. Selfishness is easy. Greed is easy. Giving in to one's emotions is easy. Evil has a running start, and good struggles to catch up, but eventually it almost always does. Still, there is a lot of heartache and grieving that must be endured while good gets itself activated. But what we have seen in the past eight years is one leader - brash, cruel, mean, hostile and vengeful - giving permission to weak and blind individuals to be their worst selves, to give in to evil. There is enormous power in one individual - from Jesus having power to prompt others to do good, to Hitler, Stalin and others, including Trump, prompting others to do evil. The world is upside down right now and more of us have to be energized to overpower the evil we see. Thanks for leading the way, John.
I’m here in Statesboro, where you are visiting this weekend. You certainly have described my life in this post and that is very sad for me. I’ve had to grieve the loss of relationship with family members.
It's always about money, or at least that's a statement people will hide behind. Saying Trump is better for the economy, better for their investments. People work hard for their money, including me, and I certainly don't begrudge anyone wanting to do the best for themselves or their families. But I'd like to believe we are on this earth to help each other, to try and get to know each other and understand each other. I think that would make the world a better, happier place, apparently not everyone agrees or we have different definitions of better and happy. It is very frustrating but I think I just need to push on because I believe my definition is right.
As I've said for years - you can't put these people back under the rocks from which they crawled . . .
Amen
Yes, what grieves me most is that many of these people bear the name of Christ. I no longer identify as a Christian because of that. And when it ever comes up in conversation, it is a great opening to talk about the core teachings of and life of Jesus. But the thing that gives me hope is that I was not much different than the people I am grieving. I have changed. They can change, too.
I think it is so easy to fall into despair on any political landscape. Charles Dickens said it best,”These were the best of times and the worst of times” and it’s always been this way. It becomes unbearable for “real” Christ followers when we lose sight of the fact that this is not our “home” but a brief stop on our journey to be reunited with Christ. This is not just a battle against evil conduits like Trump and his minions. He is the facade of the real evil of the Prince of Darkness. He is the one that has tempted the masses with lies and false reality. That is how He operates. Did Christ not warn us that it would be so? Did we think that people we care about would not fall prey, that we Christ seekers are beyond temptation? But the flip side of that coin is that no one is beyond redemption either and that is what we must pray for and seek. So I tell myself every day that is what we must do on this brief stop. We must pray for and work toward redemption even when we don’t want to, when we want to hate back. It’s what the forces of Evil sow, hatred and discord. Easy to say, hardest thing you can ever do in life. This is where the rubber meets the road for Christ followers. No matter how weary, we are called to march forward with Christ.