Let me first say this \u2014 and let my words be faithful but few:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The violence at the Capitol this week was horrific. All violence \u2014 save that which is based on \u201cJust War\u201d thinking, in my opinion \u2014 is wrong. I found the President\u2019s incitement to be incredulous and injudicious. And while the events of this week do not compare to another, any protest that manifests itself as violence against another\u2019s person or property is illegal and wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now\u2026 a few more somber words\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ve witnessed much as we\u2019ve watched the world react. We\u2019ve witnessed the good, bad and the ugly. We\u2019ve seen social media be the bearer of some souls\u2026 a pulpit for others\u2026 a bully pulpit for still more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One reaction we\u2019ve seen from the multiples goes something like this: \u201cWith all that happened on Wednesday, that doesn\u2019t reflect America. We\u2019re not like this\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not like this\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But what if we are?<\/p>\n\n\n\n For years the way we\u2019ve treated each other has gotten worse\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve justified shame, judgment and sweeping, whole people group conclusions. We\u2019ve been angry \u2014 and felt it not only appropriate but also necessary<\/em> to call another out. We\u2019ve done it publicly \u2014 castigating those even with whom we\u2019ve never sat and listened and actually heard from their head and their heart. We\u2019ve called them names. We\u2019ve proclaimed people we\u2019ve never known to be supporters of racism, Marxism, or God-forbid, Hitler. We\u2019ve supported lawmakers whose rhetoric is awful. We\u2019ve cheered. We\u2019ve encouraged canceling. We\u2019ve focused continuously on others\u2019 faults. We’ve thought of them as lesser. With our passions heightened, we\u2019ve ignored moral digression and pushed the boundaries of natural law. We\u2019ve been mad. We\u2019ve been arrogant. We\u2019ve called the different \u201ccomplicit.\u201d We\u2019ve been lured into looking at politics as a delineation between \u201cgood vs. evil.\u201d We\u2019ve picked a singular side. We\u2019ve broken relationship with family and friends until they<\/em> decide to change, thinking we didn\u2019t \u201creally know\u201d them\u2026 also forgetting the days they stood by us at our worst\u2026 somehow lured into believing this<\/em> means more. We\u2019ve hidden behind keyboards, hitting \u201clike\u201d and \u201cretweet\u201d no matter who it hurts. We\u2019ve huddled in tribal thinking, forgetting \u201cwhere everyone thinks the same, no one really thinks.\u201d We\u2019ve made excuses for the sins of those likeminded because we empathize with what led to the transgression. We\u2019ve extended grace to them and condemnation to the opposite. And we\u2019ve been afraid \u2014 afraid that a value we hold dear \u2014 whether it be equality, liberty, life or democracy \u2014 will no longer be valued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And so we lash out. Each escalating event gets worse. I heard one man say, \u201cAmerica will go on, but we aren\u2019t ok.\u201d No, we\u2019re not ok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because\u2026 what if we really are like this?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let me suggest that after decades of deterioration, there is no easy fix. But what I do know is that it will not be \u201cfixed\u201d by more of the above. It will not be fixed by us huddling in our tribes and proclaiming where everyone else needs to change. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fixing starts with me. This means a humbling of self, seeking a holy God \u2014 someone bigger and wiser and far more knowledgeable and powerful and in control than any person on this planet \u2014 someone in whom, absolutely each of us was made like \u2014 in his actual image \u2014 soberly pleading for healing and forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No doubt each of us has something within in need of healing. No doubt forgiveness, too\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Humbly\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let me first say this \u2014 and let my words be faithful but few: The violence at the Capitol this week was horrific. All violence \u2014 save that which is based on \u201cJust War\u201d thinking, in my opinion \u2014 is wrong. I found the President\u2019s incitement to be incredulous and injudicious. And while the events … <\/p>\n