Thank you to everyone that has commented on my posts. I receive them in my inbox. I don’t see them under the post. I do appreciate your kind words. Most of all it is important to me know that you have read my posts and thought about them. Your comments are a blessing.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

Every day, as we hold our great grandson Riley in our arms, we are reminded of the beauty of God’s creation. He is so perfect, so loving, so full of goodness. How do we, as humans, grow from that infant beauty into cruel people who would kill, maim, reject another human being for any reason? How does that happen? Our Biblical story tells us that our responsibility is to care for the earth. Instead, “we have ground creation under our feet for our own profit. We have exploited, polluted, poisoned the goodness of the air, the water, and the land until human life is barely possible.” (Daily Disciplines, 2020, p. 192). How did this happen?

 How did the bounty of God become so tainted? We know God’s goodness still exists. We see it every day in the love we can express for one another. We know that the majority of people do not kill, maim, reject other human beings. Most children experience God’s love through their parents, friends and relatives. Most people of every colour, race, religion become the beautiful human beings that God intends us to be.

 During Covid 19, we have seen it all. We have experienced the world working together to help one another. We have seen the healing that is possible for the earth when we change our ways. And now, played out in the US, we have seen the worst of inhumanity destroying human life. The lies have been told. The judgements have been made. This person has no value. Destroy him. How do we become this full of hate and cruelty.

Goodness and evil co-exist in our world. I don’t know how or why. Our only hope is to nurture goodness until evil dies. That is God’s call to each one of us. I am reminded of the story of the two wolves passed down to us from our First Nations People.

 An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute, then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

We are not helpless. We do not have to join with evil. We have been created in God’s image. We have God’s love and goodness within us. We can be the humans God created us to be.

We cannot force goodness on others. We can only be goodness for others. Over and over in our Christian Bible, and I’m sure in the sacred books of other religions, we are taught to live together in love. What can we do? We can ask God for the strength to feed our goodness and starve the evil in this world.