It is a cold Saturday morning in central Indiana. Sweet Husband shuffled down the stairs, walked into the kitchen and, after saying good morning to his loving wife, headed outside to pick up the newspaper. He is still “old school” and loves to read the actual printed newspaper each morning.
We had a dusting of snow last evening so there was a surprise waiting for him as he picked up his copy of The Indianapolis Star off the driveway—double hearts in the snow at the end of the driveway. He came back inside with a smile on his face and a bounce in his step saying, “The hearts are back!”
For the past several years, two perfectly formed hearts appear at the end of our driveway, occasionally, on snowy mornings. We have no idea who does this or how they are perfectly formed. We have great neighbors and the first time the hearts appeared, we were convinced the world’s best next-door neighbors did it. They denied it. We have given up trying to figure out who creates this happy message each year and just enjoy it.
The Bible tells us in Mark 12:31: “...Love your neighbor as yourself...”. Someone is doing just that, and it always brings a smile to our face.
Love your neighbor as yourself... that verse has been playing in my head all week. It sounds so simple....
This week has been tough. Our country is so divided and hearing the vitriol coming from both sides has been upsetting. Normally kind and loving people are:
> posting unkind responses to posts they do not agree with
>posting divisive and mean generalizations that, often, are untrue.
>displaying an intolerance for any opinion other than the one they cling to
>the thought that I am right, and you are wrong is so prevalent today that it makes my heart ache.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
No matter what happens this week, many Americans are going to be upset, angry and feel betrayed. There is no middle ground, philosophically or politically but do we have to agree to be kind to each other?
Love your neighbor as yourself.
The Bible also tells us to “Overcome evil with good...” (Romans 12:11) and “Do not repay anyone evil for evil.” (Romans 12:17).
I am not going to pretend this is easy. It is not. I was blindsided this week by someone who started saying something that shocked me. I was stunned not only by the words coming from their mouth but with the way it was stated. The words of the Bible verse above flooded my mind in the form of a song that we used to listen to when our girls were little. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9SNWbLFiFu8
I knew I had to be kind. Not going to lie, it was tough but with God’s help I did it.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Our country is not going to heal unless we all attempt to get past the bitterness, anger and division. We do not have to agree to be kind to each other.
It will not be easy, but will you attempt to overcome all the evil in our country today with good and love your neighbors as yourself? I would love to hear how you are overcoming evil with good in the comments.
Please keep praying for our country!!