No matter which side of the political aisle you claim, you have to admit that the United States is currently involved in some of the most extreme climate change imaginable, and I’m not talking about the weather. The political climate right now is so turbulent, and it is so filled with angry storms that you can be easily caught in the tsunami of emotion and ideology. Assuming you don’t drown in the sea, you will probably find yourself miles from where you started, and, with familiar landmarks decimated by the surge, find it difficult to get back home. What bothers me most about this “climate change” is that we are dividing ourselves into increasingly smaller groups based on our differences, forgetting all of our similarities. Not only that, but we even go so far as to concentrate on the one thing on which we disagree rather than the ninety-nine on which we agree. I don’t have any hard statistics on the matter, but it seems to me that women, because we tend to define ourselves by our relationships, often fall prey to this type of division, creating many “us vs. them” situations. Work at home vs. work outside the home. Children vs. no children. Breast-feeding vs. bottle feeding. Keeping ourselves afloat during the storms of life is exhausting enough without adding unnecessary waves!
I know you’re probably checking to see if the name of the blog has changed. After all, these words don’t seem very encouraging, but while we may live in a changing political climate, it is a weather pattern created by humans. We don’t have to just accept the nasty storms and avoid going outside. With God’s help, we can work to actually drive away the clouds, mop up the flood waters, and repair the damages left from the storms, maybe not for the entire country, but at least for our little part of it. How? Well, in Romans 12: 17-20, Paul gives us a plan of action for dealing with “climate change.”
“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:
‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
“If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”These are the words from this passage that keep replaying over and over in my mind. Notice that it doesn’t say we are responsible for the other person’s attitudes, thoughts, or reactions to our peace-keeping efforts; we are only responsible for the effort. We can plant the seeds of love, even in the hearts of our enemies, and we can water those seeds, watching as God grows mighty oak trees that can withstand even the worst of storms. These trees can provide shade in the mid-day heat, shelter from the pouring rain, and possibly a familiar landmark to guide us when the tsunami carries us away.
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
1 John 3:16-18
