As I watched the evening news last night and followed that up with the newscast of the grand jury deliberation in St. Louis County concerning the activities in Ferguson, Missouri, my mind went to the question:
"How should a Christian deal with all of this?"
I know there is a lot to pray for there. The citizens of that area, both black and white, the people that feel they have been wronged by the lack of indictments, the law enforcement men and women, the protestors, both peaceful and violent.
How should the Christian community respond?
But that community is made up of a bunch of individuals, and how should each of us respond? Not only in our feelings, but in our conversations about the whole matter with friends and family, and in our attitudes toward the parties involved.
How much influence over our minds does the media have? If all we see today are the fires burning, the looters and the protestors running through the streets, that will be our perception of the whole of that society.
Where are the peaceful protestors? Are they huddled in the background of those scenes of violence? Does the night belong only to the violent? Will they be in view in the day today, before the night falls again? Will the media cover them?
Before we can ascertain what we can do in these situations, we must first of all determine what we believe about the parties involved. We want to place the blame somewhere, but where is the right place? Is there one?
I pray that God will work in the hearts of those people over there, no matter the race or position on the events, to bring peace, His peace, to all.
And I pray that He will open my mind and heart to all the factors that culminated in the events of last evening, indeed the events of the past few months. I want to see it from His perspective, and then let my words reflect that view.
Sure, I know that this is a fallen world, but I want my thoughts and words to not be a part of the problem.
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