A lot falls upon my mind and heart each day, as I pause and I reflect. Sometimes Those thoughts find themselves written down, and on occasion shared with whomever chooses to fall upon this site. I write now due to a sadness that is in my heart, and a ponderry… I want a solution but I don’t have it.
We live in a world with quick and near instant communication. I can share a quick thought with people I know and those I don’t, from nearly anywhere thanks to having a phone, the ability to send sms test messages and services such as Facebook. Once I hit publish, this message appears on the internet any anyone with access can read it, anyone who chooses to subscribe to the RSS feed can read it without visiting this site. Luckily and thankfully for nothing I write has the traveling power to spread like a wildfire and be of interest to the masses around the globe. However that isn’t true for everyone. Sadly some of the messages from people that do grab that kind of attention, are messages of hatred, messages of brokenness, messages that distort and misrepresent others. Why is it when a few people do, or say they will do something of hate that message is able to spread around the world, become international news, lead to riots, wars, imprisonment, further acts of hatred (be they for or against or in some in-between or other relationship to the original act[s]). Why is it when large groups stand up for injustices such as modern day slavery, poverty, human rights, environmental stewardship, or when they act to bring an end to these injustices, when they act to heal relationships, their voices aren’t repeated around the globe with the same power?
How do we make the systematic changes needed in this world to heal it, to bring forth the peaceable community where the worth of all is recognized, the earth is cared for and made whole once more, where people of various faiths get along and seek the wellbeing of all together… How do we go from systems that spread messages of hate from a few in seconds to the masses and messages of love the the many to just a few in years, to systems that spread in seconds the messages of love and find ways to deal with the hate in loving ways that heals those who are broken and in pain and feel they must scream and act in such ways? How do we as Humanity, How do people of Faith, how do Christians, how does Community of Christ, how do I as a disciple of the Living Christ live and act in ways that bring forth true healing, true justice. How do we ensure that as we engage the powers that be that seem bent on destruction, we do so in ways that bring forth love and healing, for even when our intention is good we sometimes treat the “haters” as they treat others while telling them to treat others with love.
I don’t know the answers, but I know this… I’m going to try. I’m going to try an love more, to act more courageously, to lift out that hand to others in need, and take it when I am in need. I’m going to try and proclaim peace in the midst of conflict and find pathways of healing and reconciliation, for myself and for all of us, but I need your help. Will you help me share peace, joy, hope, love? Will you help me in seeking to restore the world and restore deeply broken relationships, so that one day messages of hate spitter out and the injustices of this world are addressed in positive ways, and the dreamed reality of the peaceable community my faith community calls Zion, and others call by other names, can truly become reality…
Peace,
— Lyle II