This little article is designed to be a lighthearted, 500 (or less) word essay to help bring a little hope and joy to your week.  We read enough bad news. This blog is designed to be a breath of fresh air.  Not too heavy.  Not too controversial.  A little scripture.  A little humor. Everybody’s happy.

But then along comes a week when neo-Nazis are in the news and White Supremacists are spewing their hate. It’s been ugly.

I want to write happy thoughts, but my sad heart is breaking for America.

I want us to sing happy songs, but the dirge in my soul is too overwhelming.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a guy who stood up to the Nazis and who was executed for his stand two weeks before the end of WWII) said:  Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.

My dad fought the Nazis.  My uncle was captured and tortured by them in WWII. The men and women from “the greatest generation” knew that evil must be actively and forcefully opposed.  For them it was in Germany. For us (I can’t believe I’m writing this) it sometimes raises its repulsive head in America.

Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians are for us as we see injustice, sin and hatred:  For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all (2 Corinthians 5:14). Christ’s love compels us to speak, to love, and to practice hospitality.  Christ’s love compels us in our stand against hatred.  Christ’s love compels us to action and not show indifference.  Christ’s love compels us to pray and keep praying until His Kingdom comes in America (and throughout earth) as it is in heaven!