I had a nightmare the other night. It was
terrifying! I was back in third grade and we were working on a math problem. It
called on us to use “long division” (you know... The dividend is divided by the
divisor, which gives the result as the quotient…got it.) Throughout my life, I
have been bad at math. It has been my downfall in every stage of my academic
career. I think it started with my fear of division in the third grade. Thank
goodness the calculator has been invented (no flashbacks to grammar school!)
There are more types of division that can be
much more fearful and painful. They can and have produced more tears and
sadness in me than third-grade math could have ever engendered. Many different
divisions are tearing this country apart. There is racial division and
political dissension. The Covid virus has created several different very strong
divisions…wear a mask, masks are ineffective and unnecessary; “Take the vaccine”,
“Do not trust the vaccine.” There are ethical and moral issues that also harmfully
separate people.
Over the past couple of years, I have seen
these divisions destroy relationships in families and friendships. Lifelong
friends have said very hateful and hurtful things to each other. Families have stopped seeing or speaking to
one another. It breaks my heart to see
these things happening. There seems to be both an overarching sadness and a wave of subliminal anger pervading the country.
Now, say what you will about the person in
the red suit with a pitchfork in his hand, known as Satan or the Devil, but he
is just a caricature of the true expression of the evil that is so present in
the world today. Should we be surprised at this? I think not.
Jesus alludes to this evil when He says; “The
thief comes to steal, kill and destroy.” Jesus also affirms this when he says,”
In this world you will have tribulation…
”What can we do? Where do we turn? What is
the answer?
An old song says, “Let there be peace on
Earth and let it begin with me.”
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot
do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do
everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.” Edward Everett
Hale
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:8
St. Francis of Assisi wrote a beautiful
prayer that says:
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born to
eternal life.
What can I do?
“YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL
YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.'
YOU
SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
We cannot end the divisions plaguing or
country and the world by ourselves. But We can seek to try to understand the
other’s point of view. More importantly, we can start by exemplifying the Love
of Christ to those with whom we disagree.
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