INVASIVE INCIVILITY

Graffiti and Kudzu, Jamestown, NC

INDEPENDENCE DAY 2020

I was returning home from my traditional Saturday morning drive to nowhere in particular with my coffee container on empty.  I use these weekly morning drives to clear my head, seek inspiration and sort out recent events.  And this year the drive is even more appreciated in this unprecedented time of an extended pandemic lockdown amid protests and too many destructive riots.  Rioting that has included the destruction of historical statues and many small businesses across our major cities.  I’ve watched this unrest unfold with disdain, sadness and a growing concern for the lawlessness and incivility that it birthed in my country, America.  I watched in disbelief as mayors and governors obviously had our law enforcement stand down and let criminals destroy fellow citizens’ lives.

Yes, there has always been a certain irony and concern about our founding fathers who declared independence from a taxing foreign power 244 years ago, while many were slave owners themselves.  Slavery has been with humanity for all time and still exists in many facets as a serious social issue.  Some later freed those slaves and hundreds of thousands died in a civil war to grant all people freedom.  However, simply reversing a social wrong may be a good start but it generally doesn’t alleviate the problem.  Martin Luther King, Jr. studied history and Gandhi’s struggles in India from foreign rulers and understood that violence only tends to stir up the hornets’ nest.  America is humanity’s great hope for peaceful civil protests and freedom from oppression.

As I approached home this morning, I passed a scene that is all too common in America’s southeast.  An invasive stand of smothering Kudzu vines had already covered a wide section of newly accessed trees near the bypass.  It is native to China and was innocently introduced in America to control erosion and serve as an ornamental shade plant.  However, it also absorbs all the sunlight for the plants under the canopy, suffocating them.  It now occupies an estimated 3,000,000 hectares and is destroying the environment at a rate of 50,000 baseball fields per year! Kudzu transposes living organisms into lifeless topiary support structures.  I was then forced to stop for a passing freight train whose cars were covered in graffiti.  I witnessed similar spray-painted graffiti being used to desecrate our national property and fellow citizens’ communities.  Both the Kudzu and lawless violence are a smothering scourge on our country.  And both are indications of more underlying problems for the future.

As an American citizen, I fully support needed social change and righting wrongs.  That’s the promise and job description of America.  But freedom is not the right to do as we please.  It’s the opportunity to do what is right!  I believe in the premise that love, not hate, is the most powerful force for personal change and for changing the world.  As an individual, I intend to do whatever I can to build a better world.  And I plan to exercise my lawful right to vote! 

MAKE THE WORLD GOOD AGAIN

TOTALITY ECLIPSE, NASA

The Greek historian Herodotus noted that a solar eclipse in 585 BCE occurred during a fierce battle between the Lydians and the Medes. As the the daylight blended into darkness, this celestial event prompted the soldiers to immediately lay down their weapons and declare peace. Steve Ruskin, a historian of astronomy, has observed that “no matter the time period or the scientific knowledge, human responses to an eclipse are consistently, universally, expressions of awe and wonder, and even fear and terror.”

Astrologists consider an eclipse a time of new beginnings and an awakening. Native American Shamans consider a solar eclipse a powerful time of healing. It’s considered a time of mutual understanding that can help the world unite in love and harmony. What better time in world history could this heavenly alignment of the cosmic trinity of earth, moon and sun bring to the human race? According to NASA, a total solar eclipse of the moon covering the sun’s rays happens somewhere on the earth every year and a half, but it generally only happens once in a person’s lifetime. And it’s been 99 years since the grace of a total eclipse descended on a 70 mile wide swath of America from coast to coast. That prompts many to consider this an omen or a portent.

And what more timely words from Martin Luther King, Jr. than those spoken during the civil rights era that “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” "Experiencing an eclipse changes the way we feel about space and how we are connected. I hope this moment reminds us all that we share a common origin among the stars, and that we are all citizens of the same planet," said Bill Nye, CEO of the Planetary Society.

There are two ways of spreading light in this world: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. Jesus spread love and light and we can reflect His light back into the world through our lives and our actions. Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life noted that “receiving, reading, researching, remembering, and reflecting on the Word are all useless if we fail to put them into action. We must become ‘doers of the word’. Your heart represents the source of all your motivations—what you love to do and what you care about most.”

We Americans were drawn together for a brief few minutes yesterday by a rare cosmic event that reminded us of our place in the universe. It also reminded us of our ability to join in peace as one brotherhood of man. And it was a visible clarion call to action so that the words of Edmund Burke would not be our legacy; “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

CHRISTMAS 2015

Angel Mosaic, Bethlehem, Israel

There is a field just east of Bethlehem in this war ravaged region that is the hallowed ground of a momentous announcement. It is where an angel of the Lord and a heavenly host of angels announced the arrival of a Savior for the world. Isaiah prophesied that this child would lead the wolf to live with the lamb. It’s important to note that this message was not delivered to kings and religious leaders, but to one of the lowest classes of the time—shepherds who were watching over their flocks on one very significant starry night. The world of that generation was filled with hate and war and the people of the region were anxiously awaiting a warrior king to bring peace to their lives.

They received the Prince of Peace. The mystery of this miracle was that the Creator entered his creation wrapped in human flesh as a present to all mankind. The angel told the shepherds not to be afraid for he was announcing good news. And then a host of angels sang:

“Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

As I walked this land in February, I couldn’t help but wonder why we still had not achieved that peace which was promised over two thousand years ago. As an adult, Jesus gave men a simple formula for peace—love God and love your neighbor. And He left mankind with a way of living through his teachings and model that can restore peace in the world.

People at the birth of Christ and people today expect him to save us from our enemies, but he came to deliver all of us from ourselves. And on that fateful night we were sent an ally to walk with us as we exercise our free will to do something actionable about the hate and darkness in this world we were given stewardship over. Darkness and hate were not eliminated that night in this field, but light and love were sent to checkmate them.

MAY THE PEACE OF CHRISTMAS ABIDE WITH YOU ALL THOUGH THE NEW YEAR!

OPPOSITES

Love, London, England

There’s an interesting comparison of how opposites relate in the physical world versus the emotional. Laws of thermodynamics show that cold is not only the opposite of hot, but actually the absence of it. Likewise, darkness is not only the opposite of light, but actually the absence of it. Hate is considered the opposite of love, but does not necessarily result as a consequence of its absence. However, if there is no love, a void exists and there is a better climate for the growth of hate in the environment. We understand that God is the essence of love and we were created in His image. His Son taught that there is one basic guideline to live a good life: to love God and others. As the world celebrates the life of Nelson Mandela, many are revisiting the legacy of his life and his words. Perhaps the following quote encapsulates why:

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background or his religion. People learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite”.
--Nelson Mandela

LIGHT IS LOVE

Light is Love, Jamestown, NC

Darkness cannot dispel darkness; only light can.

Hate cannot dispel hate; only love can.

Light is Love


"I am the Light of the World;

he who follows me will not walk in darkness"

--John 8:12