Fear, Division, and Anger Vs Love, Unity, and Hope

I was in a conversation today, and it hit me when in a passing comment, my husband made the observation that "it seems it's easier to unite a group around fear, division, and anger than it is around love, unity, and hope." I thought about the chaos of today and began comparing the message of Jesus to the overwhelming messages blaring from the media and political arena.

I can't help but think of the message of Jesus and wonder at how attractive his message was when there was so much fear, division, and anger. Those he attracted were the ones who were being persecuted, shunned for their lifestyles, the poor, the sick, the women, widows, and orphans. His message of love, unity, and hope was life-changing for those who had been told their whole lives they were worthless, undesirable, and unloved.

My favorite part is how gentle he was. He never forced his way into people's lives. He answered questions when he was asked, but when people came to him, he would say, "Come, follow me." He invited them alongside him; to walk with him; to learn how he lived; to learn from the Master about love, unity, and hope.

If we are His image-bearers in this time where fear, division, and anger are screaming the loudest, how are we to spread his message of love, unity, and hope?

I believe it begins with reflecting upon how our outer actions are reflecting what our inner lives are like.

We need to ask ourselves what it is we are posting on social media and what that message conveys to those reading it. Are we spreading fear, division, and anger?

We need to look at how we interact with those who believe differently than us and ask ourselves if our words and actions are conveying love, unity, and hope or fear, division, and anger?

We need to look at how we are in our own personal lives. Are we filling our minds with extreme right-wing or extreme left-wing news articles, media, and books that spread fear, division, and anger? Or are we choosing to spend our time in prayer, meditation, Scripture, and spiritual and mindfulness practices that center us in the story of the God of the universe who is working toward bringing all things together into His Kingdom of love, unity, and hope?

If you are on Instagram and are looking for or needing ideas on meditative, centering, and spiritual practices, I share a Tuesday Practice with my readers every Tuesday. My hope is to have a place where we can recenter our minds, souls, and perspectives, and remember who we are in God's great universe.

If you are not on Instagram and would like to participate in this experience, send me a message. I would be happy to send those practices out on Tuesdays to you via email. Above is an example of one of the Tuesday Practices.

May we all do our part in becoming the kinds of people who choose to spread love, unity, and hope.