I am up and awake . . .
feeling down and overwhelmed with despair
at the blindness of people who claim to be
God’s children,
followers of Jesus,
but do not seem to know Him—
so lacking in compassion and
so ready to sling mud and insults and
judge anyone
who does not agree with them.
(Jesus—Seeing the people, HE FELT COMPASSION
for them, because they were distressed and
dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.
Matthew 9:36)

DIVISIONS seem to be encouraged, pointed out
and promoted these days –
discussions,
respectful discussions do not seem possible.

Whether it is about
-a border wall to block people fleeing violence in
other countries
(some claiming it is to protect against immigrants
they perceive as a threat),
-social programs
(taking care of the poor and elderly with tax dollars), or
-tax cuts for the rich
(paid for by the middle income folks),
the hard lines and the labeling
come almost as soon as any exchange begins!

We “line up” as card-carrying members
defending divisions
we think make us better than “non-members” . . .
• religious groups – Christian (with its MANY divisions—
evangelical, mainline, Catholic, Mormon,Jehovah’s
Witness, etc.), Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist,
agnostic and on and on…
• political parties – republicans, democrats, independents,
socialists, green party and on and on . . .
• philosophies – liberal, conservative, moderate, ultra-liberal,
ultra-conservative, capitalism, socialism and on and on . . .
• ethnicity – race (white/non-white), religion (hundreds),
poor, rich, upper class, middle class, lower class, caste
and on and on . . .
• “fire” words – pro-life, pro-choice, sexual orientation,
gender preference and on and on . . .
• hate groups – white supremacists, fascists, nazis,
anti-Semitists, hate groups against Latinos, Hispanics,
Asians, and on and on . . .
• sports teams – competition of all sorts bring serious
confrontations, often deadly interactions and on and on . . .
(“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but
for those also who believe in Me through their word;
that they may all be one;
even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You…”
John 17:20)

HOW can we not see ourselves?
finding no Well of Life to draw from
finding no solace in a heart drained
finding no Hope in deepening darkness

SO . . . HOW have we reached this point?

I believe it is because we stopped listening to GOD
and
started listening to what others told us GOD meant—
a dangerous practice.

Right after Jesus affirmed His position as “Son of God,”
He said: ”… the sheep follow him because
they know his voice…”
(John 9:35-10:9)
and in verse 11 said “I am the good shepherd”

Do I know the voice of the Shepherd,
do I know GOD’s Word or
do I just repeat what others tell me GOD said
because it sounds good to my human reasoning?
(For the time will come when they will not
endure sound doctrine; but
wanting to have their ears tickled,
they will accumulate for themselves teachers
in accordance to their own desires, and
will turn away their ears from the truth and
will turn aside to myths
2 Timothy 4:3-4)

GOD . . . OPEN MY EARS TO YOUR WORD . . .
DRAW ME TO BE ONE WITH YOU . . .
HELP ME TO HEAR YOU . . .
help me to see how I got here!!!
=======
HOW have we reached this point?
disregard for human life, disrespect for anyone who disagrees, disgust for “them” (whoever that is), and general hatred and anger not defined, just there . . .

HOW did we get here?
rudeness, name calling, ridiculing, insults, mean-spirited loud tirades, and physical threats . . .

HOW are we so full and empty at the same time?
full of fear and empty of compassion, full of hate and empty of understanding,
full of darkness and empty of light . . .

HOW can we not see ourselves?