While a young man full of hate beyond measure hoped to incite civil war by killing those in a Bible Study who accepted him without question, forgiveness offered during his bond hearing expressed by family members of those killed demonstrated hearts full of a love beyond measure. Most human beings cannot fathom the existence of either of these extremes – but we all carry both inside of us…the ability to both hate and love…
www.juno-news.com/news/read/category/AP%20Top%20News%20-%20US%20Headlines/article/the_associated_press-church_victims_family_face_alleged_attacker_in_cou-ap
We convince ourselves we are “good people” because most of us hover near the middle in terms of anger and hatred. But what if we had to compare ourselves daily to the kind of love that forgives such wrongs. Oh, how we fail that test!
It is tempting to blame parents, education, culture, drugs or even mental illness, but we all understand at some level such horrific acts demonstrate pure evil on a realm greater than the normal human experience, even a “dysfunctional” one. The true Civil War is one that happens daily inside of our hearts and for each of our souls. The real life scenario playing out in Charleston, SC, only makes sense when we understand that “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,[a] against spiritual hosts of wickedness…”
To read about the “Whole Armor of God” in context and what that armor includes, read here. When I see not just pure evil, but pure love in action in response to it, I am reminded I need to put on that armor daily. What about you? Don’t understand but want to? Ask someone in whom you have seen a touch of that impossible kind of love and forgiveness.
Ephesians 6:10-20: www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+6%3A10-20&version=NKJV
Heather J. Kirk Art by Heather J. Kirk www.heather-kirk.artistwebsites.com Literature by Heather J. Kirk http://www.photographicartistry.citymax.com/Books.html
#EmanuelAME #charleston #forgive #love #hate #memorial #sc #southcarolina #armorofgod #ephesians6 #hatecrime #racism
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