These are challenging times that we live in–from the threats issued by North Korea to the hate expressed in Charlottesville to the animosity that we find across many people in our society. These events, emotions and rhetoric affect us all. Some people wish the bad would go away without their involvement, but it won’t. And it can’t. It takes all of us to make our world a more hopeful and caring place.
We must stand against hate, racism, bigotry and violence, but also raise the banner for love, justice, reconciliation and peace. Ritchie Torres, a young New York City councilman states, “Even in our moment of greatest darkness, there is light. And there is hope. And there is hope not only for own lives, but we should be hopeful about our ability to change the world.”
We can’t and shouldn’t stay on the sidelines in these trouble times. If our world is going to become more loving and less hating, we need to be agents of change…a conduit for good and not evil.
While hate divides us, love unites us. When we genuinely connect with individuals who are different from us, we discover what we have in common outweighs our differences. We learn that our differences make us better. We too must pray: for courage to do good–strength to resist evil. Pray for our leaders to build bridges to all people and do what is best for our country and the world. The specific path to loving more and hating less will lead us and the world to a higher ground.
Lord, help us to love more, do justice and resist evil.
